Dendrocnide cordifolia

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Stinging tree
Stinging Tree.png
Young plant
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Urticaceae
Genus: Dendrocnide
Species:
D. cordifolia
Binomial name
Dendrocnide cordifolia
Dendrocnide-cordifolia-distribution-map.png
Synonyms [4] [5]

Laportea cordifoliaL.S.Sm.

Dendrocnide cordifolia, commonly known as the stinging tree, is a plant in the nettle family Urticaceae endemic to the Atherton Tablelands, southwest of Cairns, Queensland. Contact with the plant (like many others in the family) results in a painful sting, however the intensity and duration of the pain from this plant is extreme.

Contents

Description

D. cordifolia is a straggly perennial shrub growing up to 10 m (33 ft) high, and the entire plant is covered with stinging hairs. [4] [6] It has large cordate leaves measuring up to 25 cm (9.8 in) long by 22 cm (8.7 in) wide, with toothed margins and petioles (leaf stems) almost as long as the leaf blade itself. [6]

The inflorescences are up to 6 cm (2.4 in) long and bisexual, i.e. consisting of both staminate (functionally male) and pistillate (functionally female) flowers. [7] The flowers are quite small, about 1.5–2 mm (0.06–0.08 in) wide.

The fruit are achenes about 1.5 mm (0.059 in) long. They are partly surrounded by a white, globular, fleshy body derived from the swollen pedicel and is somewhat similar in appearance a small white raspberry. [6]

Taxonomy

This species was first described as Laportea cordifolia in 1959 by the Australian botanist Lindsay Stuart Smith and was published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland His description was based on a specimen he collected in 1957 near Atherton, Queensland. [8] In 1969 the Singaporean botanist Wee-Lek Chew, in his paper titled Laportia and Allied Genera, merged L. cordifolia with Dendrocnide cordata and for almost 30 years that remained the status quo. However, in 1997, the Australian botanists Betsy Jackes and Marina Hurley showed that there were errors in Chew's work, and published a paper in Austrobaileya which reinstated L. cordifolia as a distinct species, but under the new combination that remains today, i.e. Dendrocnide cordifolia. [7] [9]

Etymology

The genus name Dendrocnide is derived from the Ancient Greek words déndron , meaning "tree", and knídē , meaning "stinging needle". The species epithet cordifolia is a Latin word derived from cor (heart) and folium (leaf), which is a reference to the heart-shaped leaves of this species.

Distribution and habitat

D. cordifolia is restricted to a small part of north-eastern Queensland, specifically the Atherton Tableland and nearby areas, at elevations from 100 to 1,200 m (330 to 3,940 ft). [4] It grows as an understory plant in disturbed areas of rainforest, such as treefalls, creek margins, roadsides, and man-made clearings. [4]

Conservation

This species is listed by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science as least concern. [1] As of 28 March 2021, it has not been assessed by the IUCN.

Toxicity

D. cordifolia produces intense pain when a person comes into contact with any part of the plant, very similar to the more well-known and closely related D. moriodes. A detailed discussion of the toxicity of both of these plants can be found in the D. moroides article.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urticaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

The Urticaceae are a family, the nettle family, of flowering plants. The family name comes from the genus Urtica. The Urticaceae include a number of well-known and useful plants, including nettles in the genus Urtica, ramie, māmaki, and ajlai.

<i>Athertonia</i> Monotypic genus of trees in the family Proteaceae

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.

<i>Tiarella cordifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Tiarella cordifolia, the heart-leaved foamflower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Saxifragaceae. The specific name cordifolia means "with heart-shaped leaves", a characteristic shared by all taxa of Tiarella in eastern North America. It is also referred to as Allegheny foamflower, false miterwort, and coolwort.

<i>Dendrocnide</i> Genus of plants in the family Urticaceae

Dendrocnide is a genus of approximately 40 species of plants in the nettle family Urticaceae. They have a wide distribution across North East India, Southeast Asia, Australia and the Pacific Islands. In Australia they are commonly known as stinging trees.

<i>Dendrocnide moroides</i> Species of plant in the family Urticaceae

Dendrocnide moroides, commonly known in Australia as the stinging tree, stinging bush, or gympie-gympie, is a plant in the nettle family Urticaceae found in rainforest areas of Malesia and Australia. It is notorious for its extremely painful and long-lasting sting. The common name gympie-gympie comes from the language of the indigenous Gubbi Gubbi people of south-eastern Queensland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green ringtail possum</span> Species of marsupial

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<i>Neolitsea dealbata</i> Species of plant in the family Lauraceae

Neolitsea dealbata, also known as white bolly gum, hairy-leaved bolly gum, or simply bolly gum, is a shrub or small tree in the laurel family Lauraceae which is native to New South Wales and Queensland in Australia.

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

Laportea is a genus of plants in the family Urticaceae. They are herbaceous, either annual or perennial. Like many plants of the Urticaceae, they have stinging hairs. There are stinging and non-stinging hairs on the same plant. The genus was named after the French naturalist Francis de Laporte de Castelnau.

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<i>Dendrocnide photiniphylla</i> Species of plant in the family Urticaceae

Dendrocnide photiniphylla, the shining-leaved stinging tree, is a rainforest tree of eastern Australia. It occurs from near the Colo River northwest of Sydney to Cooktown in tropical Queensland. A versatile species, it occurs in many different rainforest types. The specific epithet photiniphylla translates to shining leaf. The generic name translates to stinging tree.

<i>Dendrocnide sinuata</i> Species of flowering plant

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Carnarvonia araliifolia, commonly known as the red oak, red silky oak, Caledonian oak or elephant's foot, is the sole species in the monotypic genus Carnarvonia, a member of the Proteaceae plant family. It is endemic to the rainforests of northeastern Queensland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stinging plant</span> Plant with hairs (trichomes) on its leaves or stems

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<i>Cerbera inflata</i> Species of tree in the family Apocynaceae

Cerbera inflata, commonly known as the cassowary plum, grey milkwood, Joojooga, or rubber tree, is a plant in the family Apocynaceae endemic to north east Queensland, specifically the Atherton Tablelands and adjacent areas.

Betsy Rivers Jackes is an Australian botanist, researcher, taxonomist and author. Her research interests are the plants in the families Myrsinaceae and Vitaceae.

<i>Dendrocnide cordata</i> Species of plant in the family Urticaceae

Dendrocnide cordata, the stinger, is a species of flowering plant in the nettle family Urticaceae, native to the Bismarck Archipelago, the Lesser Sunda Islands, New Guinea, and Queensland. It is a rainforest tree reaching 10 m (33 ft), with irritating hairs on its large leaves.

Dendrocnide corallodesme, the mango-leafed stinger, is a species of flowering plant in the nettle family Urticaceae, native to New Guinea and Queensland. It is a rainforest tree reaching 6 m (20 ft), with irritating hairs on its flowers and abaxial leaf midribs.

<i>Polyosma rhytophloia</i> Species of plant in the family Escalloniaceae

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<i>Rubus queenslandicus</i> Species of plant in the family Rosaceae

Rubus queenslandicus, commonly known as bramble-of-the-cape, rose-leaf bramble, or native raspberry, is a plant in the rose family Rosaceae which is endemic to a small part of northeastern Queensland, Australia, where it is found on the margins of highland forest. Prior to 1997, collections of this plant were identified as either R. rosifolius, R. fraxinifolius or R. muelleri/R. probus.

<i>Diploglottis bernieana</i> Species of plant in the family Sapindaceae

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References

  1. 1 2 "Species profile—Dendrocnide cordifolia". Queensland Department of Environment and Science. Queensland Government. 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  2. "Dendrocnide cordifolia". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI). Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government . Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  3. "Dendrocnide cordifolia". International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 F.A.Zich; B.P.M.Hyland; T.Whiffen; R.A.Kerrigan (2020). "Dendrocnide cordifolia". Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants Edition 8 (RFK8). Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (CANBR), Australian Government . Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  5. "Dendrocnide cordifolia". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 Messina, A. (2021). "Dendrocnide cordifolia". Flora of Australia . Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  7. 1 2 Bean, A.R. (2019). "Dendrocnide cordata (Warb. ex H.J.P.Winkl.) Chew (Urticaceae) is not present in Australia" (PDF). Austrobaileya . 10 (3): 541–544. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  8. "Laportea cordifolia". International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  9. Jackes, B.R.; Hurley, M. (1997). "A new combination in Dendrocnide (Urticaceae) in north Queensland". Austrobaileya . 5 (1): 121–123. JSTOR   41729927 . Retrieved 27 August 2021.