| Rose Butternut | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Sapindales |
| Family: | Anacardiaceae |
| Genus: | Blepharocarya |
| Species: | B. involucrigera |
| Binomial name | |
| Blepharocarya involucrigera | |
Blepharocarya involucrigera is a tree in the mango and cashew family Anacardiaceae. It is endemic to Queensland, Australia. Common names include north Queensland bollygum, northern bollygum and rose butternut. [1] [3]
Blepharocarya involucrigera grows best in well developed rainforest, where it can reach 40 m (130 ft) in height with a dense rounded canopy, but in marginal habitats it may only reach 15 m (49 ft). [3] [4] The leaves are compound with 10 to 18 opposite leaflets, up to 15 cm (5.9 in) long and up to 4.5 cm (1.8 in) wide, elliptic to ovate in shape. Mature leaves are dark green above and paler beneath, while new growth is a rosey red. [3] [4] [5] [6] Above the basal pair of leaflets the rachis is flattened on the upper surface with angular edges (tending to winged). [3] [4]
Large terminal panicles of small, pale green to white flowers appear in the spring. [6] [7] This species is dioecious, that is, male and female flowers appear on separate plants. [8]
Fruits are small and flattened, around 4 mm (0.16 in) long by 8 mm (0.31 in) wide, with small hairs along the margins. [5] [7] They are enclosed within a green, fibrous involucre, which dries and opens to release the fruit, becoming brown and woody in the process. The dry involucres may persist on the tree for some time and are often found on the ground underneath mature trees. [3] [4] [9] [10] This very distinctive fruit and the flattened rachis make easily recognisable key identifiers for the species.
This species grows in rainforest, monsoon forest and vine thickets from the Torres Strait islands and Cape York Peninsula south to the Atherton Tableland and the adjacent coastal areas, and from sea level to 800 m (2,600 ft). [3] [5] [11] [7]
The species was formally described in 1878 by Victorian Government botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in the 11th volume of his Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae based on plant material collected near the Endeavour River in north-east Queensland. [2]
The name Blepharocarya comes from the Ancient Greek blepharon (eyelid), and carya (nut) which refers to the fruit having hairs around the margin and resembling an eyelid. The specific epithet comes from the Latin involucrum (a whorl of bracts around flowers or fruit), and gero (bearing or borne on). [7]
As with many other plants in the Anacardiaceae family, contact with the resin or other parts of the tree can cause severe allergic reactions including dermatitis, conjunctivitis, and headaches. Individuals may become increasingly sensitised to contact with any part of the tree. [3] [4] [6] [10]
The tree produces a decorative timber that has been used for cabinetmaking, flooring and cooperage. [3] [10] Fruits are eaten by Double-eyed Fig Parrots and King Parrots [7]
Pleiogynium timoriense, commonly known as the Burdekin plum, sweet plum, tulip plum, or in the Djabugay language guybalum, is a medium-sized fruit-bearing tree in the cashew and mango family Anacardiaceae native to Malesia, Australia and the Pacific Islands.
Heptapleurum actinophyllum is a tree in the family Araliaceae. It is native to tropical rainforests and gallery forests in northern and north-eastern Queensland coasts and the Northern Territory of Australia, as well as New Guinea and Java. Common names include Australian umbrella tree, Queensland umbrella tree, octopus tree and amate.
Murraya paniculata, commonly known as orange jasmine, orange jessamine, china box or mock orange, is a species of shrub or small tree in the family Rutaceae and is native to South Asia, Southeast Asia and Australia. It has smooth bark, pinnate leaves with up to seven egg-shaped to elliptical leaflets, fragrant white or cream-coloured flowers and oval, orange-red berries containing hairy seeds.
Semecarpus australiensis, commonly known as the tar tree, native cashew, marking nut, or cedar plum, is a species of tree in the cashew, sumac and mango family Anacardiaceae, native to parts of Melanesia and northern Australia. Contact with the plant can cause serious allergic reactions, a common characteristic of this family.
Glochidion ferdinandi, with common names that include cheese tree, is a species of small to medium–sized trees, constituting part of the plant family Phyllanthaceae. They grow naturally across eastern Australia, from south–eastern New South Wales northwards to northern and inland Queensland, in rainforests and humid eucalypt forests. Frugivorous birds such as pigeons, figbirds and parrots consume its fruit. The tree roots and branches are toxic to dogs, causing liver failure and death.
Litsea reticulata is a common Australian tree, growing from near Milton, New South Wales to the Bunya Mountains, Queensland. Common names include bollygum, bolly wood and brown beech. The habitat of the bollygum is rainforest of most types, except the dryer forms.
Calamus australis, commonly known as wait-a-while, hairy mary or lawyer cane, is a plant in the palm family Arecaceae which is endemic to the rainforests of north east Queensland, Australia. Like other species in the genus Calamus, this is a climbing plant with a very long and flexible stem. It uses sharp strong hooks on the fronds and tendrils to attach itself to other vegetation, such as taller established trees, thus gaining support that enables it to grow higher towards the canopy. This species is very similar to C. radicalis, with which it coexists, but is smaller in almost all respects.
Rhodosphaera is a genus of plants in the family Anacardiaceae. The genus includes a single species, Rhodosphaera rhodanthema, which is a rainforest tree of eastern Australia. It grows in sub tropical rainforests and also in the drier form of rainforests. The natural range of distribution is from the Macleay River, New South Wales to Maryborough in south east Queensland. Common names include deep yellowwood, yellow cedar and tulip satinwood.
Elaeocarpus bancroftii, commonly known as Kuranda quandong, Johnstone River almond, ebony heart, grey nut, or nut tree is a large rainforest tree in the family Elaeocarpaceae which is endemic to Queensland. It has coriaceous leaves, attractive white flowers and relatively large fruit containing an edible kernel.
Atractocarpus fitzalanii, commonly known as the brown gardenia or yellow mangosteen, is a species of plant in the coffee and madder family Rubiaceae. It is found in coastal parts of tropical Queensland, Australia. The beautifully scented flowers and glossy foliage has seen this plant enter cultivation in gardens of eastern Australia.
Flindersia xanthoxyla, commonly known as yellowwood, long jack or yellowwood ash, is a species of rainforest tree that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has pinnate leaves arranged in opposite pairs with seven to eleven leaflets, panicles of yellow flowers and woody fruit studded with rough points on the surface.
Ptychosperma elegans, commonly known as the solitaire palm, is a very slender palm endemic to Queensland in Australia. In the nursery trade and in the United States it may be confusingly referred to as Alexander palm, which is an often-used but misnomered name of another Australian palm species Archontophoenix alexandrae, the Alexandra palm.
Grevillea helmsiae, commonly known as Helms' grevillea, is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to Queensland. It is a shrub or tree with elliptic to narrowly egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base and small clusters of white to cream-coloured flowers with a green style.
Buckinghamia celsissima, commonly known as the ivory curl tree, ivory curl flower or spotted silky oak, is a species of tree in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to the tropical rainforests of northeastern Queensland, Australia.
Blepharocarya is a genus of trees from northern Australia, in the family Anacardiaceae. They are dioecious trees with opposite leaves, a trait rather unusual within the Anacardiaceae.
Dillenia alata, commonly known as red beech, golden guinea flower or golden guinea tree, is a tree in the Dilleniaceae family, found in tropical forests of the Moluccas, New Guinea, and northern Australia.
Hydriastele wendlandiana, commonly known as Wendland's palm, cat o' nine tails, creek palm or kentia palm, is a tall, multi-stemmed tree in the palm family Arecaceae. It is native to New Guinea and the Australian states of Queensland and the Northern Territory.
Diploglottis harpullioides, commonly known as Babinda tamarind, is a rainforest tree in the lychee and maple family Sapindaceae which is found only in northeast Queensland, Australia.
Harpullia rhyticarpa, commonly known as slender harpullia, is a plant in the family Sapindaceae which is endemic to the rainforests northeastern Queensland, Australia.
Diploglottis diphyllostegia, commonly known as the northern tamarind, native tamarind or wild tamarind, is a tree in the lychee family Sapindaceae which is endemic to Queensland, Australia. It is an attractive tree with potential in cultivation, with a dense crown of dark green leaves and masses of fruit in spring and summer.