Didymocheton muelleri

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Miva mahogany
Dysoxylum mollissimum subsp. molle Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney.jpg
Miva Mahogany at the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Meliaceae
Genus: Didymocheton
Species:
D. muelleri
Binomial name
Didymocheton muelleri
(Benth.) Mabb. (2021)
Synonyms [2]
  • Alliaria muelleri(Benth.) Kuntze (1891)
  • Dysoxylum muelleriBenth. (1863)
  • Hartighsea trichosiphaneF.Muell. ex C.DC. (1878)

Didymocheton muelleri, the red bean or Miva mahogany, is a rainforest tree in the family Meliaceae. [3] It occurs in tropical, sub-tropical and littoral rainforests in eastern Australia, from the Bellinger River in New South Wales in the south, to the wet tropics of north-eastern Queensland. [3] [4] A signposted red bean tree may be seen near the car park of Victoria Park Nature Reserve in north-eastern New South Wales.

Contents

Description

It is a large and impressive tree, up to 35 metres (115 ft) tall and a trunk diameter of 120 cm (47 in). It is usually buttressed or flanged at the base, and the trunk is scaly and rough, grey or brown in colour. Freshly cut bark has an onion type scent. [5]

Leaves

Leaflets are usually opposite on the stem, without serrations, and distinctly asymmetrical at the leaf base. Leaflets are 6 to 15 cm (2.4 to 5.9 in) long and 2 to 5 cm (0.79 to 1.97 in) wide, [3] and are mid green above, paler below, and sometimes softly hairy under the leaf. True leaves are 30 to 60 cm (12 to 24 in) long, pinnate. Leaf stem swollen where joining the larger branch. Leaf venation is evident above and below, but raised and more noticeable below. Net veins easily seen. Veins creamy green, contrasting with the darker leaf colour.

Flowers and fruit

White flowers form on panicles from January to July. The fruit is a fawnish brown capsule, around 2 cm (0.79 in) in diameter. There is one reddish brown seed in each of the one to five cells. The fruit, which is bird attracting, ripens between November and March. [6] Fresh seed is advised for regeneration.

Taxonomy

The species was first described as Dysoxylum muelleri by George Bentham in 1863. In 1994 David Mabberley reclassified it as Dysoxylum mollissimum subsp. molle, including both the Australian populations and those in Sulawesi, Maluku, New Guinea, and the Bismarck Archipelago. A 2021 study by Holzmeyer, Hauenschild, Mabberley, et al. concluded that Dysoxylum was polyphyletic, and that the Australian population constituted a distinct species from the northern population. The species was placed in the revived genus Didymocheton , with the Australian population under the new combination Didymocheton muelleri, and the northern Sulawesi-to-Bismarck Archipelago population renamed Didymocheton mollis . [7] The Australian population is still widely known as Dysoxylum mollisimum subsp. molle.

Conservation

This species has been assessed by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science as least concern. [1]

Timber

The tree produces a well regarded mahogany timber, suited to cabinet work, carving and boat building. It is reddish brown and easily worked. [5] Sapwood is creamy pink [8] and not resistant to termites. [6] There is concern of inhaling wood dust from this tree. [9]

Red bean, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney Red Bean Dysoxylum mollissimum bark.jpg
Red bean, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meliaceae</span> Family of plants commonly known as the Mahogany family

Meliaceae, the mahogany family, is a flowering plant family of mostly trees and shrubs in the order Sapindales.

Red bean is a common name for several plants and may refer to:

<i>Dysoxylum</i> Genus of plants in the family Meliaceae

Dysoxylum is a genus of rainforest trees and shrubs in the flowering plant family Meliaceae. About 34 species are recognised in the genus, distributed from India and southern China, through southeast Asia to New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Australia. The name Dysoxylum derives from the Greek word ‘Dys’ meaning "bad" referring to "ill-smelling" and ‘Xylon’ meaning "wood".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kohekohe</span> Species of tree

Kohekohe is a medium-sized tree in the Meliaceae family, native to New Zealand. It is found in lowland and coastal forests throughout most of the North Island and also occurs in the Marlborough Sounds in the north of the South Island. Mature trees grow up to 15 metres (49 ft) in height, with a trunk up to a metre in diameter.

Pseudocarapa is a genus of flowering plants in the family Meliaceae. It includes five species which range from Sri Lanka to Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, and New Guinea.

<i>Didymocheton fraserianus</i> Species of tree

Didymocheton fraserianus, commonly known as rosewood or rose mahogany, is a medium-sized to large tree native to New South Wales and Queensland. It is widely used with the purpose of street design and to provide shade in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. Rosewood ranges from the rainforest around eastern Australia from Bundaberg in Queensland to Wyong in New South Wales. At maturity, it can reach a height of 57 metres (200 ft). It is generally known for its strong scent of rose from its bark.

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

Didymocheton is a genus of flowering plants in the family Meliaceae. It includes 41 species which range from eastern India through Indochina and southern China to Malesia, Papuasia, eastern Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific.

Prasoxylon is a genus of flowering plants in the family Meliaceae. It includes seven species which range from Nepal and eastern India through Indochina to southern China, Taiwan, Malesia, Sri Lanka, Papuasia, and Queensland.

<i>Didymocheton pachyphyllus</i> Species of tree

Didymocheton pachyphyllus is a small tree in the family Meliaceae, endemic to Lord Howe Island. It grows up to 15 m (49 ft) tall, and is found at all elevations on the island.

<i>Endiandra muelleri</i> Species of tree

Endiandra muelleri is a rainforest tree of eastern Australia. Its habitat is in warm temperate rainforests on poorer soils. Distributed from the Allyn River in the Barrington Tops region in the south to Kroombit Tops to the north in central Queensland.

<i>Didymocheton rufus</i> Species of tree

Didymocheton rufus is a rainforest tree in the family Meliaceae, found in eastern Australia. It occurs on a variety of different soils and rainforest types. From as far south as Bulahdelah, New South Wales to the McIlwraith Range in far north eastern Australia. The specific epithet rufus refers to the rusty red of the leaf, fruit and flower hairs of this species.

<i>Didymocheton pettigrewianus</i> Species of tree in the family Meliaceae

Didymocheton pettigrewianus, commonly known as spur mahogany, spurwood, or Cairns satinwood, is a large tree in the family Meliaceae. It is native to the rainforests of Malesia, Papuasia and Queensland. In Queensland it occurs only in a small part of the northeast coast.

<i>Goniocheton arborescens</i> Species of plant in the family Meliaceae

Goniocheton arborescens, commonly known in Australia as Mossman mahogany, is a small tree in the mahogany family Meliaceae. It is native to rainforests of Malesia, Papuasia, Queensland and nearby islands.


Didymocheton mollissimus is a species of tree in the family Meliaceae. It ranges from eastern India and Bangladesh to southern China, Myanmar, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra, Java, the Lesser Sunda Islands, and the Philippines, where it grows in lowland tropical moist forests.

<i>Epicharis parasitica</i> Species of plant in the family Meliaceae

Epicharis parasitica, commonly known as yellow mahogany, is a species of rainforest tree in the family Meliaceae native to Taiwan, parts of Malesia, Papuasia, and northeast Queensland.

<i>Didymocheton gaudichaudianus</i> Species of tree in the family Meliaceae

Didymocheton gaudichaudianus, commonly known as ivory mahogany, is a species of rainforest tree in the family Meliaceae, native to Malesia, Papuasia, Queensland, and some southwest Pacific islands.

Epicharis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Meliaceae. It includes seven species which range from Indochina to south-central China, Taiwan, Malesia, Papuasia, Queensland, and Fiji.

Didymocheton alliaceus is a species of flowering plant in the mahogany family, Meliaceae. It is a tree native to the tropical Pacific islands, ranging from the Solomon Islands to the Caroline Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Wallis and Futuna, Niue, Tonga, and the Samoan Islands. It is most closely related to Didymocheton mollissimus of Malesia and mainland Southeast Asia, D. mollis of the Bismarck Archipelago, New Guinea, and Sulawesi, and D. muelleri of northeastern Australia.

Didymocheton mollis is a species of flowering plant in the family Meliaceae. It is a tree native to Sulawesi, the Maluku Islands, New Guinea, and the Bismarck Archipelago.

Dysoxylum acutangulum is a species of flowering plant in the mahogany family, Meliaceae. It is a tree native to Peninsular Thailand, Malesia, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, and the Northern Territory and Queensland in Australia.

References

  1. 1 2 "Species profile—Didymocheton muelleri". Queensland Department of Environment and Science. Queensland Government. 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  2. ↑ "Didymocheton muelleri (Benth.) Mabb". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 Taylor, M. J.; Harden, G. J. (2002). "Dysoxylum mollissimum subsp. molle – New South Wales Flora Online". PlantNET – The Plant Information Network System. 2.0. Sydney, Australia: The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust. Retrieved 13 Mar 2013.
  4. ↑ F.A.Zich; B.P.M.Hyland; T.Whiffen; R.A.Kerrigan (2020). "Dysoxylum mollissimum subsp. molle". Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants Edition 8 (RFK8). Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (CANBR), Australian Government . Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  5. 1 2 Floyd, A. G. (2008). Rainforest Trees of Mainland South-eastern Australia (2nd, Revised ed.). Lismore, New South Wales: Terania Rainforest Publishing. p. 220. ISBN   978-0-958943-67-3 . Retrieved 2010-02-01.
  6. 1 2 "Cedarworks - Red Bean". Archived from the original on 2010-07-28. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
  7. ↑ Holzmeyer, Laura; Hauenschild, Frank; Mabberley, David J.; Muellner-Riehl, Alexandra N. (2021). "Confirmed polyphyly, generic recircumscription and typification of Dysoxylum (Meliaceae), with revised disposition of currently accepted species". Taxon. 70 (6): 1248–1272. doi: 10.1002/tax.12591 .
  8. ↑ "Miva mahogany (Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries)". Archived from the original on 2009-12-06. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
  9. ↑ "Timber Health Hazards". U-Beaut Enterprises. 2014.
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