Capparis loranthifolia

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Capparis loranthifolia
Capparis loranthifolia.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Brassicales
Family: Capparaceae
Genus: Capparis
Species:
C. loranthifolia
Binomial name
Capparis loranthifolia
Capparis loranthifolia locator map.png

Capparis loranthifolia, also known as the narrowleaf bumble or narrow-leaved bumble tree, is a shrub or small tree in the caper family. It is endemic to the arid and semi-arid interior of northern and eastern Australia from Western Australia to New South Wales. [1]

Contents

Fruit Capparis loranthifolia fruits.jpg
Fruit

Infraspecific taxa

Description

The species grows as a densely-foliaged, thorny shrub or stunted tree to 2–10 m in height. It has dark, grey-brown, fissured and cracked bark with thorns 4–7 mm long. It's simple, evergreen leaves are dark green, petiolate, 40–70 mm long by 8–14 mm wide. The cream-coloured flowers have 4 or 5 petals 20 mm long. The round fruits are 30–40 mm in diameter, with 7–8 mm long seeds. [2] [3] [4] [5] A survey of remnant brigalow woodland in Queensland provided various growth parameters for the species including maximum diameter at breast height of 24 cm, maximum height 10 m, maximum age 300 years and growth rate, growing to half its maximum size in 65 years. [6]

Taxonomy

Capparis loranthifolia was first formally described by botanist John Lindley in 1848 in Sir Thomas Mitchell's Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia.

However, it was likely identified during an earlier expedition by Ludwig Leichhardt from Moreton Bay to Port Essington. When disaster struck the expedition and they ran low on resources, the specimens that Leichhardt had collected had to be discarded. Journals from the expedition were much later analysed and describe the same plant from between present day Emerald and Rockhampton, along with over 100 other species new to science had they made it to publication. [7]

Capparis loranthifolia is one of 250 species of the Capparaceae Family. It is very similar to the Capparis mitchellii, that also evolved in Central Queensland after the genus dispersed to Australia from India. [8] Both species have been referred to as Wild Orange, but C. loranthifolia is usually a smaller and more spiny plant. [4]

Capparis loranthifolia var. bancroftii was originally thought to also be identified as a "deviating form" in New Caledonia. [3] However, this was later discounted as taxonomic revision attributed these specimens to C. artensis var. dielsiana [9]

Taxonomic synonymous with Busbeckea lorantifolia and Busbeckea loranthifolia [10] .

Distribution

Capparis loranthifolia is endemic to Australia's arid and semi-arid interior, from Northern New South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territory to the Kimberley in Western Australia. Although generally an inland species, a small population of the loranthifolia variety reaches the coast at Rockhampton. [3] The range of Capparis loranthifolia var. bancroftii is restricted to Central Queensland. In NSW, several populations have been identified in Culgoa National Park. [2]

Ecology

It is found in fine red soil, and in brown silty clay-loam near creeks, and primarily is found in the understory of softwood shrublands and woodlands with Eucalyptus populnea, E. melanophloia, E. microtheca, E. crebra, Geijera parviflora, Acacia aneura, A. oswaldii, A. harpophylla, A. catenulata, Eremophila mitchellii, Atalaya spp. and Triodia spp. [2] It is a known host of parasitic mistletoe species Lysiana subfalcata and Lysiana spathulata. [11]

The fruits are food for many species including birds, whom disperse the seeds. [5] It is also noted in the diet of the Common Brushtail Possum in central Australia, and domestic livestock. [12] Being tolerant of dry conditions, the bush provides supplement foraging for livestock during drought. [13]

It flowers from September to December, when the fruit ripens, in the early part of the wet season. [5]

Traditional uses

The fruit has been noted as utilised by many different Indigenous groups of Northern Australia, although not a large part of the diet, given its limited temporal supply. The Kukatja people in the Western Desert ate the fruit (Yidaringgi in local language) whenever it was available, picked and eaten directly. [14] The Alyawara people of the Northern Territory consumed the fruit whenever it was available, sometimes collecting it in large quantities just before it ripened and burying it for several days in hot sand to present birds and insects from eating it. [15]

With the majority of grazing properties in Western Queensland containing the plants, it was assessed by Queensland's Department of Primary Industry for feasibility as part of a bush foods industry to supplement low beef prices and recommended for further study. [16]

Conservation

Last assessed in 2018, Capparis loranthifolia is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, with a wide distribution and stable population. [17] Whilst not listed as threatened in Queensland, where it is relatively common, nor nationally, Capparis loranthifolia var. loranthifolia is listed in New South Wales as Endangered, with a small distribution in the north-western plains, which is threatened by erosion and degradation from rabbits, goats and other livestock. [2] Capparis loranthifolia is a common understory bush in many threatened ecological communities including Poplar Box Woodland, [18] Brigalow Woodland [19] and Coolibah - Black Box Woodlands of the Darling Riverine Plains and the Brigalow Belt South Bioregions, [20] all Endangered under the EPBC Act after suffering extensive clearing for agriculture since European settlement.

Related Research Articles

Taunton National Park is situated near the town of Dingo approximately 135 km inland from Rockhampton in eastern Central Queensland, Australia. The park encompasses an area of 11,626 ha within the Northern Brigalow Belt bioregion of Queensland; a region widely recognised to contain considerable biodiversity.

<i>Eucalyptus coolabah</i> Species of plant

Eucalyptus coolabah, commonly known as coolibah or coolabah, is a species of tree found in eastern inland Australia. It has rough bark on part or all of the trunk, smooth powdery cream to pink bark above, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven and hemispherical or conical fruit.

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

Acacia harpophylla, commonly known as brigalow, brigalow spearwood or orkor, is an endemic tree of Australia. The Aboriginal Australian group the Gamilaraay peoples know the tree as Barranbaa or Burrii. It is found in central and coastal Queensland to northern New South Wales. It can reach up to 25 m (82 ft) tall and forms extensive open-forest communities on clay soils.

Wild orange is a common name for several plants bearing fruit reminiscent of oranges. They are not necessarily related to family Rutaceae. Plants called wild orange include:

<i>Acacia cambagei</i> Species of plant

Acacia cambagei, commonly known as gidgee, stinking wattle, stinking gidgee in English, or gidjiirr, by transliteration from indigenous languages of north-western NSW, is an endemic tree of Australia. It is found primarily in semiarid and arid Queensland, but extends into the Northern Territory, South Australia and north-western New South Wales. It can reach up to 12 m in height and can form extensive open woodland communities. The leaves, bark, and litter of A. cambagei produce a characteristic odour, vaguely reminiscent of boiled cabbage, gas or sewage that accounts for the common name of "stinking gidgee".

<i>Capparis</i> Genus of flowering plants

Capparis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Capparaceae. It includes 142 species of shrubs or lianas which are collectively known as caper shrubs or caperbushes. Capparis species occur over a wide range of habitat in the subtropical and tropical regions of Africa, Eurasia, Australasia, and the Pacific.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brigalow Belt</span> Ecoregion in Queensland, Australia

The Brigalow Belt is a wide band of acacia-wooded grassland that runs between tropical rainforest of the coast and the semi-arid interior of Queensland and northern New South Wales, Australia. The Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) divides the Brigalow Belt into two IBRA regions, or bioregions, Brigalow Belt North (BBN) and Brigalow Belt South (BBS). The North and South Brigalow Belt are two of the 85 bioregions across Australia and the 15 bioregions in Queensland. Together they form most of the Brigalow tropical savanna ecoregion.

<i>Elaeocarpus bancroftii</i> Species tree in the family Elaeocarpaceae endemic to Queensland, Australia

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.

<i>Amyema quandang</i> Species of plant

Amyema quandang is a species of hemi-parasitic shrub which is widespread throughout the mainland of Australia, especially arid inland regions, sometimes referred to as the grey mistletoe.

<i>Capparis fascicularis</i> Species of flowering plant

Capparis fascicularis, the zigzag caper-bush, is a plant in the Capparaceae family and is native to Africa.

<i>Eucalyptus cambageana</i> Species of eucalyptus

Eucalyptus cambageana, commonly known as the Dawson River blackbutt, Dawson gum or Coowarra box, is a species of tree that is endemic to Queensland, Australia. It is a medium-sized tree with hard, rough bark on the lower trunk, smooth white to cream-coloured bark above, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowers and cup-shaped to funnel-shaped fruit.

<i>Ptilotus nobilis</i> Species of plant

Ptilotus nobilis, commonly known as yellow tails, is an annual or short-lived perennial herb of the family Amaranthaceae. It is found in arid regions of South Australia, southern and eastern Northern Territory, western Queensland and western New South Wales.

<i>Casuarina cristata</i> Species of tree

Casuarina cristata, commonly known as belah or muurrgu, is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to inland eastern Australia. It is a tree with fissured or scaly bark, sometimes drooping branchlets, the leaves reduced to scales in whorls of 8 to 12, the fruit 13–18 mm (0.51–0.71 in) long containing winged seeds (samaras) 6.0–10.5 mm (0.24–0.41 in) long.

<i>Eucalyptus ochrophloia</i> Species of eucalyptus

Eucalyptus ochrophloia, commonly known as the yapunyah, is a species of eucalypt native to inland New South Wales and Queensland in eastern Australia.

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

Acacia argyrodendron, known colloquially as black gidyea or blackwood, is a species of Acacia native to Australia. Czech botanist Karel Domin described this species in 1926 and it still bears its original name. Domin reported collecting the type specimen from somewhere between Camooweal and Burketown in northwestern Queensland, though it is more likely to have been northeast of Aramac.

<i>Eucalyptus bancroftii</i> Species of eucalyptus

Eucalyptus bancroftii, commonly known as Bancroft's red gum or orange gum, is a species of tree that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds usually arranged in groups of seven, white flowers and cup-shaped, conical or hemispherical fruit.

<i>Denhamia oleaster</i> Species of flowering plant

Denhamia oleaster is a shrub or small tree within the family Celastraceae, endemic to Queensland. The species inhabits a variety of environments, from monsoon forest to semi-arid savanna and occurs on a broad range of soil types. In more humid locales the species can grow to 6 metres in height, although it may not reach more than 1 metre in less favourable environments.

<i>Lysiana exocarpi</i> Species of mistletoe

Lysiana exocarpi, commonly known as harlequin mistletoe, is a species of hemiparasitic shrub, endemic to Australia. It is in the Gondwanan family Loranthaceae and is probably the most derived genus of that family with 12 pairs of chromosomes. The Loranthaceae is the most diverse family in the mistletoe group with over 900 species worldwide and including the best known species in Australia. Mistletoes are notable for their relationships with other species. In an early reference to the group in Australia Allan Cunningham explorer and first Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, wrote in 1817: "The Bastard Box is frequently much encumbered with the twining adhering Loranthus aurantiacus which 'Scorning the soil, aloft she springs, Shakes her red plumes and claps her golden wings'."

The Weeping Myall Woodlands is an endangered ecological community, under the EPBC Act of the Commonwealth of Australia. It is found in inland Queensland and inland New South Wales, on alluvial plains west of the Great Dividing Range. It takes its name from Acacia pendula, the weeping myall.

References

  1. ↑ "Capparis loranthifolia Lindl". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Narrow-leafed Bumble - profile". NSW Threatened Species. NSW Office of Environment and Heritage. 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Jacobs, M. (1964). "The genus Capparis (Capparaceae) from the Indus to the Pacific". Blumea: Biodiversity, Evolution and Biogeography of Plants. 12 (3): 385–541.
  4. 1 2 Anderson, Eric (2016). Plants of Central Queensland: Identification and uses of native and introduced species. CSIRO Publishing. ISBN   9781486302260.
  5. 1 2 3 Falster, G. (2021). "Capparis loranthifolia Lindl.: AusTraits". Atlas of Living Australia. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  6. ↑ Ngugi, Michael R.; Johnson, Robert W.; McDonald, William J. F. (2011-02-10). "Restoration of ecosystems for biodiversity and carbon sequestration: Simulating growth dynamics of brigalow vegetation communities in Australia". Ecological Modelling. 222 (3): 785–794. doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2010.09.022. ISSN   0304-3800.
  7. ↑ Fensham, R.J.; Bean, A.R.; Dowe, J.L.; Dunlop, C.R. (2006). "This disastrous event staggered me: Reconstructing the botany of Ludwig Leichhardt on the expedition from Moreton Bay to Port Essington, 1844–45". Cunninghamia. 9: 451–506.
  8. ↑ Maurya, Satish; Cornejo, Xavier; Lee, Changyoung; Kim, Soo-Yong; Hai, Do Van; Choudhary, Ritesh Kumar (2023-03-01). "Molecular phylogenetic tools reveal the phytogeographic history of the genus Capparis L. and suggest its reclassification". Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics. 58: 125720. doi:10.1016/j.ppees.2023.125720. ISSN   1433-8319.
  9. ↑ Fici, S. (2017-10-02). "A taxonomic revision of the genus Capparis (Capparaceae) in New Caledonia". New Zealand Journal of Botany. 55 (4): 407–423. doi:10.1080/0028825X.2017.1361454. ISSN   0028-825X.
  10. ↑ Australian Plant Name Index (2023). "Capparis loranthifolia Lindl".
  11. ↑ Paul Owen Downey (1998). "An inventory of host species for each aerial mistletoe species (Loranthaceae and Viscaceae) in Australia" (PDF). Cunninghamia. 5 (3): 685–720. ISSN   0727-9620. Wikidata   Q106567982.
  12. ↑ Evans, M. C. (1992). "Diet of the Brushtail Possum Trichosurus vulpecula (Marsupialia: Phalangeridae) in central Australia". Australian Mammalogy. 15 (1): 25–30. doi:10.1071/am92003. ISSN   1836-7402.
  13. ↑ Flora of Australia Volume 8. AGPS. 1982. ISBN   978 0 644 02017 6.
  14. ↑ Cane, Scott (1987-12-01). "Australian Aboriginal subsistence in the Western desert". Human Ecology. 15 (4): 391–434. doi:10.1007/BF00887998. ISSN   1572-9915.
  15. ↑ O'Connell, James F.; Latz, Peter K.; Barnett, Peggy (1983). "Traditional and Modern Plant Use among the Alyawara of Central Australia". Economic Botany. 37 (1): 80–109. ISSN   0013-0001.
  16. ↑ Phelps, D.G. (1997). Feasibility of a sustainable bush food industry in Western Queensland. Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation. ISBN   0 642 24650 5.
  17. ↑ "Capparis loranthifolia. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species". IUCN Red List. 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  18. ↑ Wang, J.; Eyre, T.J.; Neldner, V. (2008). "Floristic diversity of poplar box woodlands in Southern Queensland and changes over a 20-year period". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland. 114: 1–12.
  19. ↑ Department of the Environment (2013). "Approved Conservation Advice for the Brigalow (Acacia harpophylla dominant and co-dominant) ecological community".
  20. ↑ Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (2011). "Approved Conservation Advice for Coolibah - Black Box Woodlands of the Darling Riverine Plains and the Brigalow Belt South Bioregions ecological community".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)


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