Northern silky oak | |
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In flower | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Proteales |
Family: | Proteaceae |
Subfamily: | Grevilleoideae |
Tribe: | Macadamieae |
Subtribe: | Gevuininae |
Genus: | Cardwellia F.Muell. [3] |
Species: | C. sublimis |
Binomial name | |
Cardwellia sublimis F.Muell. [4] | |
Cardwellia is a monotypic genus in the plant family Proteaceae. The sole described species is Cardwellia sublimis − commonly known as northern silky oak, bull oak or lacewood − which is endemic to the rainforests of northeastern Queensland, Australia.
Cardwellia sublimis is a large tree reaching up to 40 m (130 ft) in height and a diameter of 2 m (6 ft 7 in), often becoming an emergent standing well above the canopy. [5] [6] The bark is thin and there is usually no buttressing. [6] [7] The leaves are alternate, dark green above with a silvery brown sheen below. [5] [7] [8] On seedlings the leaves are simple but on mature trees they are pinnately compound, [5] and there is a graduation of the leaf morphology as the tree grows (see gallery). Leaves on mature trees reach up to 65 cm (26 in) long with a petiole up to 11 cm (4.3 in) long. [5] They have 3 to 10 pairs of oval to oblong leaflets, each of which is 9–18 cm (3.5–7.1 in) long and 4–7 cm (1.6–2.8 in) wide. [5] [7] [8]
The inflorescence is a raceme up to 16 cm (6.3 in) long, [5] [8] [9] with sessile flowers in pairs carried on a short peduncle. [7] They are produced above the tree canopy, and prolific − the canopy can be covered with the cream-white flowerheads in late spring and summer. [5] [7]
The fruit are large, ellipsoidal, woody, dehiscent follicles about 8–11 cm (3.1–4.3 in) long and 5–6 cm (2.0–2.4 in) wide, carried on vertical peduncles and displayed above the canopy, creating a distinctive feature of this species. [5] [7] [8] [10] They split along one side to release the seeds, [10] and will persist for some time both on the tree and on the ground after they have fallen. [7] They contain up to 14 winged seeds measuring about 7 by 3 cm (2.8 by 1.2 in). [5] [7] [8]
The Victorian colonial botanist Ferdinand von Mueller first described this species in 1865 based on material collected by John Dallachy in Rockingham Bay. It was published in his work Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae. [4] [7] [9]
Molecular analysis indicates Cardwellia sublimis is a member of the subtribe Gevuininae, [11] and is the earliest offshoot from the main ancestor of the other genera. It is thought to have separated around 35 million years ago in the late Eocene. [12]
Mueller created the genus name in honour of Edward Cardwell, who was Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1864 to 1866. The species name that he chose is the Latin adjective sublimis, with the meanings uplifted, high, lofty, exalted, or sublime − it may possibly be a reference to the fruit (which is held above the tree's canopy) or to the height of the tree itself. [10] [13]
The name for this tree in the Dyirbal language is jungan. The more general word gurruŋun is used in their taboo vocabulary, and is also applied to Darlingia ferruginea and Helicia australasica . [14] In the English language, the common names "bull oak" and "northern silky oak" arose in colonial times and are references to the similarity of the grain of its timber to that of the oaks of England and Europe that were more familiar to the colonists. [15]
Cardwellia sublimis is endemic to a small part of northeastern Queensland, occurring from the area around Rossville south to the Paluma Range National Park, and from the coastal flats to the adjacent ranges and tablelands. It grows in rainforest on a variety of soil types, and at altitudes from sea level to around 1,300 m (4,300 ft). [5] [7] [10] [13]
Ants (Formicidae) are known to create wounds on the trunk of the northern silky oak by biting it, in order to access and consume the sugary sap. [16] The seeds are eaten by sulphur-crested cockatoos (Cacatua galerita) and native rats. [13]
The northern silky oak has been assessed as least concern by both the Queensland Department of Environment and Science and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). [1] [2] The IUCN states in its assessment summary that the "species was heavy logged in the past but this has stopped. Currently, the species has no immediate threats". [2]
Cardwellia sublimis was harvested extensively in the past for its highly-regarded timber, [2] which was widely used in houses of the traditional "Queenslander" style, especially for windows. It was also commonly used for furniture, joinery and flooring. [6] [7] In limited supply today, it is now used mostly for cabinet work and veneers. [5]
Attempts to grow Cardwellia sublimis in plantations have not been very successful, [7] however it has good potential as a park and street tree due to its large size, attractive foliage and showy flowering displays. It is readily propagated from seed (although seed must be fresh, stored for less than 6 weeks) [17] and has been grown successfully in Melbourne. [18]
Grevillea robusta, commonly known as the southern silky oak, silk oak or silky oak, silver oak or Australian silver oak, is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae. Despite its common names, it is unrelated to true oaks, which belong to the family Fagaceae. Grevillea robusta is a tree, and is the largest species in its genus. It is a native of eastern coastal Australia, growing in riverine, subtropical and dry rainforest environments.
Floydia is a monotypic genus of plants in the Proteaceae family endemic to Australia. The sole described species is Floydia praealta, commonly known as the ball nut. It is a somewhat rare tree found only growing in the rainforests of southeastern Queensland and northeastern New South Wales. The tree has a superficial resemblance to the closely related Macadamia and could be confused with them. The fruit is poisonous.
Athertonia is a monotypic genus of plants in the family Proteaceae. The sole described species is Athertonia diversifolia, commonly known as Atherton oak, athertonia, creamy silky oak or white oak. It is endemic to a small part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland, Australia. A relative of the macadamia, it has potential in horticulture and the bushfood industry.
Alloxylon flammeum, commonly known as the Queensland tree waratah or red silky oak, is a medium-sized tree of the family Proteaceae found in the Queensland tropical rain forests of northeastern Australia. It has shiny green elliptical leaves up to 18 cm (7.1 in) long, and prominent orange-red inflorescences that appear from August to October, followed by rectangular woody seed pods that ripen in February and March. Juvenile plants have large deeply lobed pinnate leaves. Previously known as Oreocallis wickhamii, the initial specimen turned out to be a different species to the one cultivated and hence a new scientific name was required. Described formally by Peter Weston and Mike Crisp in 1991, A. flammeum was designated the type species of the genus Alloxylon. This genus contains the four species previously classified in Oreocallis that are found in Australasia.
Buckinghamia is a genus of only two known species of trees, belonging to the plant family Proteaceae. They are endemic to the rainforests of the wet tropics region of north eastern Queensland, Australia. The ivory curl flower, B. celsissima, is the well known, popular and widely cultivated species in gardens and parks, in eastern and southern mainland Australia, and additionally as street trees north from about Brisbane. The second species, B. ferruginiflora, was only recently described in 1988.
Helicia australasica, also known as Austral oak or creek silky oak, is a species of rainforest tree in the macadamia family Proteaceae, native to New Guinea and northern and northeastern Australia.
Grevillea hilliana, commonly known as white silky oak, white yiel yiel, Hill's silky oak and grey oak, is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a tree with lance-shaped to oblong or lobed adult leaves and cylindrical clusters of large numbers of white to pale green flowers.
Stenocarpus sinuatus, known as the firewheel tree, is an Australian rainforest tree in the family Proteaceae. The range of natural distribution is in various rainforest types from the Nambucca River in New South Wales to the Atherton Tableland in tropical Queensland. Stenocarpus sinuatus is widely planted as an ornamental tree in other parts of Australia and in different parts of the world.
Hicksbeachia pinnatifolia is a small tree in the family Proteaceae. Common names include red bopple nut, monkey nut, red nut, beef nut, rose nut and ivory silky oak.
Alloxylon pinnatum, known as Dorrigo waratah, is a tree of the family Proteaceae found in warm-temperate rainforest of south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales in eastern Australia. It has shiny green leaves that are either pinnate (lobed) and up to 30 cm (12 in) long, or lanceolate (spear-shaped) and up to 15 cm (5.9 in) long. The prominent pinkish-red flower heads, known as inflorescences, appear in spring and summer; these are made up of 50 to 140 individual flowers arranged in corymb or raceme. These are followed by rectangular woody seed pods, which bear two rows of winged seeds.
Helicia glabriflora is a species of rainforest shrubs or small trees occurring in eastern Australia. Common names include smooth or pale helicia, pale, leather or brown oak. They grow naturally in a variety of different rainforest types from the Illawarra, New South Wales to the Townsville area, Queensland. Of all the global diversity of approximately one hundred Helicia species, this one species naturally grows the furthest south, in the Minnamurra Rainforest and the Robertson area, Illawarra, New South Wales, there observed more on the relatively fertile basalt and alluvial soils.
Darlingia ferruginea, commonly known as the brown silky oak, is a rainforest tree of the family Proteaceae from Northern Queensland.
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.
Opisthiolepis is a monotypic genus of trees in the macadamia family Proteaceae. The sole species is Opisthiolepis heterophylla, commonly known as blush silky oak, pink silky oak, brown silky oak or drunk rabbit. It was first described in 1952 and is endemic to a small part of northeastern Queensland, Australia.
Placospermum is a genus of a single species of large trees, constituting part of the plant family Proteaceae. The species Placospermum coriaceum is endemic to the rainforests of the wet tropics region of northeastern Queensland, Australia. Common names include rose silky oak and plate-seeded oak.
Carnarvonia araliifolia, commonly known as the red oak, red silky oak, Caledonian oak or elephant's foot, is the sole species in the genus Carnarvonia, a member of the Proteaceae family. It is endemic to the rainforests of northeastern Queensland, Australia.
Lasjia is a genus of six species of trees of the family Proteaceae. Three species grow naturally in northeastern Queensland, Australia and three species in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Descriptively they are the tropical or northern macadamia trees group. Lasjia species characteristically branched compound inflorescences differentiate them from the Macadamia species, of Australia, which have characteristically unbranched compound inflorescences and only grow naturally about 1,000 km (620 mi) further to the south, in southern and central eastern Queensland and in northeastern New South Wales.
Buckinghamia ferruginiflora, also known as Noah's oak or spotted oak, is a species of rainforest tree in the protea family, one of two in the genus that is endemic to the Wet Tropics of Queensland, north-eastern Australia. Although the tree's differences from its congener had been known since the 1970s, it was only formally described by Donald Foreman and Bernard Hyland in 1988 in the journal Muelleria.
Xanthophyllum octandrum, commonly known as Macintyre's boxwood, false jitta, yellow boxwood or sovereignwood, is a slow-growing tree in the milkwort family Polygalaceae which has the potential to reach thousands of years of age. It is endemic to coastal northeastern Queensland, Australia.
Archidendron vaillantii, commonly known as the salmon bean, is an evergreen tree in the legume family Fabaceae. It is endemic to the rainforests of northeast Queensland.
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