Calamus muelleri

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Southern lawyer cane
Calamus muelleri.JPG
In Nightcap National Park
Calamus-muelleri-06.jpg
Habit
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Genus: Calamus
Species:
C. muelleri
Binomial name
Calamus muelleri

Calamus muelleri, commonly known as southern lawyer cane or wait-a-while, is a climbing palm with a vine-like habit, endemic to the subtropical coastal rainforests of northern New South Wales and southern Queensland. Sharp hooks on the plant can snag the clothing of walkers in these forests, giving rise to the name "wait-a-while".

Contents

Description

C. muelleri is a clustering, climbing palm growing up to 20 m (66 ft) in length, with thin stems up to 16 mm (0.63 in) diameter. The pinnate fronds are alternate and more or less sessile. [4] They are up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) long with 7-13 leaflets on each side and have long recurved spines on the rachis. The leaflets have spines along the midrib on the upper surface and small sharp spurs on their margins. The leaf sheath is densely covered in spines. [4] [5] [6]

This species, like others in the genus, produces a modified sterile inflorescence (known as a flagellum) [7] up to 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) long, [4] [6] which is armed with dozens of strong, recurved barbs that act like grappling hooks to latch on to nearby vegetation and provide support for the plant. [4] [7]

Fertile inflorescences are up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) long and flowering occurs in all months of the year. [5] The fruits are a globose drupe about 12–16 mm (0.47–0.63 in) in diameter, containing a single seed. [4] [5] [6]

Taxonomy

The southern lawyer cane was first described by the German botanist and noted authority on Arecaceae Hermann Wendland, based on specimens collected by Hermann Beckler and others on the Brisbane River and Moreton Bay in Queensland and on the Clarence and Richmond Rivers in New South Wales. Wendland's work was published in the journal Linnaea; Ein Journal für die Botanik in ihrem ganzen Umfange in 1875. [8] [9]

Distribution and habitat

Calamus muelleri grows in rainforests and wet sclerophyll forests in subtropical eastern Australia, from around Gympie in Queensland south to the Bellinger and Hastings Rivers in New South Wales. [5] [6]

Ecology

Laetesia raveni , a species of spider endemic to eastern Australia, builds its web only in two plant species, Calamus muelleri and Solanum inaequilaterum, both of which are spiny plants. [10]

Conservation

This species is listed by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science as least concern. [1] As of 4 December 2021, it has not been assessed by the IUCN.

Uses

Aboriginal Australians used the cane stems for weaving. [6]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calamus australis</span> Species of palm plant

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.

<i>Phyllanthus microcladus</i> Species of plant in the family Phyllanthaceae

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<i>Leptospermum myrsinoides</i> Species of plant

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<i>Goodenia albiflora</i> Species of plant

Goodenia albiflora, commonly known as white goodenia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae and endemic to South Australia. It is a small, erect shrub with ridged stems, elliptic to egg-shaped, cauline leaves, racemes of white flowers with leaf-like bracteoles at the base, and oval fruit.

<i>Regelia ciliata</i> Species of shrub

Regelia ciliata is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a rigid, spreading shrub with paper-like bark on the stems, tiny wedge shaped leaves and dense heads of mauve flowers in spring and summer.

Cassinia × adunca is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae and is endemic to South Australia. It was first formally described in 1853 by Otto Wilhelm Sonder in the journal Linnaea: ein Journal für die Botanik in ihrem ganzen Umfange, oder Beiträge zur Pflanzenkunde from an unpublished description by Ferdinand von Mueller. It is considered to be a hybrid, possibly between Cassinia complanata and C. tegulata.

<i>Acacia aciphylla</i> Species of legume

Acacia aciphylla is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a bushy, prickly shrub with down-turned, rigid, sharply-pointed phyllodes, flowers arranged in a oval heads usually arranged in pairs in leaf axils, and linear pods up to 90 mm (3.5 in) long.

<i>Epacris muelleri</i> Species of flowering plant

Epacris muelleri, commonly known as Mueller's heath, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to eastern New South Wales. It is an erect, or weak straggling shrub with more or less glabrous branchlets, elliptic leaves and white or cream-coloured, tube-shaped flowers.

<i>Sarcozona praecox</i> Species of succulent

Sarcozona praecox, commonly known as sarcozona, is species of flowering plant in the family Aizoaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a small erect to low-lying, succulent shrub with leaves that are triangular in cross-section and arranged in opposite pairs, and daisy-like flowers with twenty to eighty pink, petal-like staminodes and 20 to 150 stamens.

<i>Goodenia calcarata</i> Species of plant

Goodenia calcarata, commonly known as streaked goodenia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is an erect, annual herb with toothed egg-shaped to oblong leaves, racemes of white, cream-coloured or pink to mauve flowers with brownish markings, and oval fruit.

<i>Goodenia pinnatifida</i> Species of plant

Goodenia pinnatifida, commonly known as cut-leaf goodenia, scrambled eggs or mother ducks, is a species of flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae and endemic to Australia. It is a low-lying to ascending perennial herb with toothed to pinnatisect leaves, racemes of yellow flowers and more or less spherical fruit.

<i>Spyridium coactilifolium</i> Species of shrub

Spyridium coactilifolium, commonly known as butterfly spyridium, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae. It has white-velvety flowers and oval shaped leaves that are thickly covered in soft hairs.

<i>Olearia muelleri</i> Species of Asteraceae

Olearia muelleri, commonly known as Mueller daisy bush, Mueller's daisy bush or Goldfields daisy, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae and is endemic to southern continental Australia. It is a compact or spreading shrub with scattered spatula-shaped to egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, and white and yellow, daisy-like inflorescences.

<i>Olearia brachyphylla</i> Species of plant

Olearia brachyphylla is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae and is endemic to southern continental Australia. It is a densely-branched, aromatic shrub with woolly-hairy stems, oblong to egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base and small white and pale yellow, daisy-like inflorescences.

<i>Calamus moti</i> Species of climbing palm endemic to Queensland

Calamus moti is a climbing rainforest plant in the palm family Arecaceae, which is endemic to Queensland. It has a slim flexible stem which does not support the plant, instead it climbs to the forest canopy with the assistance of long tendrils armed with stout recurved hooks.

<i>Calamus radicalis</i> Species of plant in the family Arecaceae

Calamus radicalis, commonly known as vicious hairy mary, is a plant in the palm family Arecaceae 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. australis, with which it coexists, but is larger in almost all respects.

<i>Veronica decorosa</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae

Veronica decorosa, is a flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae and grows in South Australia. It has white flowers borne on long stems.

References

  1. 1 2 "Species profile—Calamus muelleri". Queensland Department of Environment and Science. Queensland Government. 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  2. "Calamus muelleri". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI). Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government . Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  3. "Calamus muelleri". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Harden, Gwen; Williams, John; McDonald, Bill; et al. (2014). Rainforest Plants of Australia: Rockhampton to Victoria. (Digital identification key, published as USB and mobile app). Nambucca Heads, NSW: Gwen Harden Publishing.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Dowe, J.L.; Jones, D.L. (2020). "Calamus muelleri". Flora of Australia . Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "PlantNET - FloraOnline". PlantNET (The NSW Plant Information Network System). Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, Sydney. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  7. 1 2 Isnard, Sandrine; Rowe, Nick P. (December 2008). "The climbing habit in palms: Biomechanics of the cirrus and flagellum". American Journal of Botany . 95 (12): 1538–1547. doi:10.3732/ajb.0700005. PMID   21628161 . Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  8. Wendland, H. & Drude, C.G.O. (1875). "Palmae Australasicae". Linnaea: Ein Journal für die Botanik in ihrem ganzen Umfange, oder Beiträge zur Pflanzenkunde. 39: 193–195. Retrieved 4 December 2021.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. "Calamus muelleri". International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  10. Hormiga, Gustavo; Scharff, Nikolaj (2014). "The strange case of Laetesia raveni n. sp., a green linyphiid spider from Eastern Australia with a preference for thorny plants (Araneae, Linyphiidae)". Zootaxa. 3811 (1): 83–94. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3811.1.4. PMID   24943149 . Retrieved 4 December 2021.