Exocarpos cupressiformis

Last updated

Exocarpos cupressiformis
Exocarpos cupressiformis.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Santalales
Family: Santalaceae
Genus: Exocarpos
Species:
E. cupressiformis
Binomial name
Exocarpos cupressiformis
Exocarpos cupressiformis DistMap3.jpg
Occurrence data from AVH

Exocarpos cupressiformis, with common names that include native cherry, cherry ballart, and cypress cherry, [1] belongs to the sandalwood family of plants. [2] It is a species endemic to Australia. Occasionally the genus name is spelt "Exocarpus" [3] [4] but that seems to be rarely used now.

Contents

Description

The cherry ballart superficially resembles the cypress. [2] [5] [6] It is a large shrub or small tree, 3 to 8 m (9.8 to 26.2 ft) tall, often pyramidal in shape. There are no authoritative published accounts of its host plants or parasitism, the following notes are based on anecdotal accounts. In the early stages of development especially, and like many other members of the Santalaceae, the plants are hemiparasitic on the roots of other trees, particularly eucalypts [2] [5] [6] [7] – hence the usefulness of shallow soils in establishing this parasitism. More mature plants are less reliant on this parasitism once photosynthesis in their stems is well established. [8]

The leaves are reduced to small scales, and the green, drooping stems are the site of photosynthesis. [2] [5] [6] [7] Its inconspicuous flowers are arranged in clusters on short spikes 3–6 mm long. [6] [7] Only one flower on each spike forms a fruit. [2] [6] The inedible fruit is a globular, hard, greenish nut, 4-6mm long, containing one seed. It is found on top of a short stalk, the pedicel. As the fruit develops the stalk swells to 5-6mm in diameter and turns yellow or red, to form the edible "cherry", which lacks the hard stone of a European cherry. The true, seed-like fruit (actually a nut containing the seed, like the acorn) is found on the outside of the fleshy false "fruit" (actually a swollen pedicel), hence the original name Exocarpos, from the Latin meaning outside fruit.

Habitat

E. cupressiformis is found in eastern Australia, in sclerophyll forests, especially in shallow soils, [5] [6] and on granite outcrops. [2] Its habitat range is extensive: from Queensland [6] to Victoria, [2] from the coast to the leeward fringe of the Great Dividing Range, [6] and Tasmania. [9] In more southerly parts of South Australia, plants are found in a number of isolated pockets of forest, including in a band from the Mount Lofty Ranges, down the Fleurieu Peninsula, to Kangaroo Island, in the southern parts of the Yorke Peninsula and the Eyre Peninsula, and in the Mount Remarkable National Park area. [5] [6]

The foliage is anecdotally reported to be toxic to stock, [8] but authoritative sources make no mention of that, [10] and browse lines (see main photo) indicate it is readily consumed by herbivores.

Uses

Indigenous Australians used the wood of the plant to make spearthrowers and bull roarers. [11]

The pale wood is very fine-grained with little figure, but often with striking colour variation. The timber was historically used for making furniture, gun-stocks, and tool handles. [2] [5] It is also suitable for carving and turning, so is also now used for producing decorative and ornamental pieces of art and craft work. [2]

The fleshy pedicel, the "cherry", is edible and so was used as food by indigenous Australians and by early European settlers. The "fruit" is picked when it is so ripe that it is ready to fall from the tree. It may be eaten raw, or cooked. [8]

The 1889 book, The Useful Native Plants of Australia, records that Indigenous Australians in Queensland referred to the plant as "Tchimmi-dillen" or "Coo-yie" and that, "The fruit is edible. The nut is seated on the enlarged succulent pedicel. This is the poor little fruit of which so much has been written in English descriptions of the peculiarities of the Australian flora. It has been likened to a cherry with the stone outside (hence the vernacular name) by some imaginative person." [12]

Early European settlers used branches as Christmas trees. [8]

Dispersal and propagation

Dispersal of the species is by birds attracted to the colourful pedicel to which the nut is attached. The digestive juices of the bird weaken the hard nut, allowing the internal seed to germinate more easily. [8] Propagation of the species has proved to be difficult. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Santalum acuminatum</i> Species of plant

Santalum acuminatum, the desert quandong, is a hemiparasitic plant in the sandalwood family, Santalaceae, which is widely dispersed throughout the central deserts and southern areas of Australia. The species, especially its edible fruit, is also commonly referred to as quandong or native peach. The use of the fruit as an exotic flavouring, one of the best known bush tucker, has led to the attempted domestication of the species.

<i>Canarium ovatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Canarium ovatum, the pili, is a species of tropical tree belonging to the genus Canarium. It is one of approximately 600 species in the family Burseraceae. C. ovatum are native to the Philippines. They are commercially cultivated in the Philippines for their edible nuts and is believed to be indigenous to that country. The fruit and tree are often vulgarized with the umbrella term of "Java almond" which mixes multiple species of the same genus, Canarium.

The cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus. The plants themselves are also called cherries, and the wood they produce is called cherry.

<i>Exocarpos</i> Genus of flowering plant in the mistletoe family Santalaceae

Exocarpos is a genus of flowering shrubs and small trees in the sandalwood family, Santalaceae. They are found throughout Southeast Asia, Australia and the Pacific Islands.

Native cherry is a common name for several Australian plant species with edible fruit;

<i>Hovenia dulcis</i> Species of flowering plant

Hovenia dulcis, the Japanese raisin tree or oriental raisin tree, is a hardy tree found in Asia, from Eastern China and Korea to the Himalayas, growing preferably in a sunny position on moist sandy or loamy soils. The tree known for its health benefits when consumed in tea, introduced as an ornamental tree to several countries, also bears edible fruit. It is considered to be one of the most pervasive invaders in Brazilian subtropical forests.

<i>Exocarpos sparteus</i> Species of plant

Exocarpos sparteus is an Australian endemic plant species, commonly known as the broom ballart, slender cherry, or native cherry. The species is found in all states of mainland Australia.

<i>Semecarpus australiensis</i> Species of tree in the family Anacardiaceae

Semecarpus australiensis, commonly known as the tar tree, native cashew, marking nut, or cedar plum, is a species of tree in the cashew, sumac and mango family Anacardiaceae, native to parts of Melanesia and northern Australia. Contact with the plant can cause serious allergic reactions, a common characteristic of this family.

<i>Exocarpos strictus</i> Species of plant

Exocarpos strictus, with common names pale-fruit ballart, pale ballart, and dwarf cherry, is an adaptably versatile erect shrub bearing cherry-like fruit, that forms dense thickets, that is native to parts of Australia. E. strictus was described by botanist Robert Brown in 1810.

<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>Lepidosperma laterale</i> Species of plant

Lepidosperma laterale, commonly known as the variable swordsedge, is a plant found in south-eastern Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand. It is often found on sandy soils or rocky areas in wooded areas.

<i>Cenarrhenes</i> Monotypic genus of plants in the family Proteaceae

Cenarrhenes is a monytypic genus in the family Proteaceae containing the single species Cenarrhenes nitida, known as the Port Arthur plum or native plum. Cenarrhenes nitida is an evergreen shrub to small tree endemic to the rainforests and scrublands of western Tasmania. It bears white flowers in late spring followed by the development of fleshy fruit.

<i>Exocarpos latifolius</i> Species of flowering plant

Exocarpos latifolius is a species of parasitic tree, in the plant family Santalaceae. They have the common names broad leaved ballart, scrub sandal-wood, scrub cherry, oringorin, broad leaved cherry or native cherry. The species is found in monsoon forest, littoral rainforest and occasionally in more open forest types in Malesia and across Northern Australia.

Exocarpos homalocladus, commonly known as the grass tree, is a flowering plant in the sandalwood family. The specific epithet comes from the Greek homalos (“flat”) and clados, with reference to the structure of the plant.

Ximenynic acid is trans-11-octadecen-9-ynoic acid, a long-chain acetylenic fatty acid.

<i>Exocarpos humifusus</i> Species of flowering plant

Exocarpos humifusus, also known as mountain native-cherry, is a small shrub member of the family Santalaceae, all of which are hemiparasites. Exocarpos humifusus is a dwarfish and sprawling shrub with woody stems, and small dry fruits that grow atop a fleshy red stalk, hence the common name of native-cherry.

<i>Exocarpos aphyllus</i> Species of plant

Exocarpos aphyllus belongs to the sandalwood plant family (Santalaceae). Noongar names are chuk, chukk, dtulya and merrin. It is a species endemic to Australia.

<i>Tetratheca pilosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Tetratheca pilosa is a flowering plant in the family Elaeocarpaceae, endemic to Australia. It is a small shrub found in dry sclerophyll forests, open heathlands and woodlands of Australia. It was first recorded in 1805 by French botanist Jacques Labillardière.

<i>Exocarpos menziesii</i> Species of plant

Exocarpos menziesii, also known as heau, is an endangered rare Hawaiian native plant in the Santalaceae family. The genus Exocarpos contains shrubs and small trees whose roots are semi-parasitic in that they will attach themselves to other plants. This genus is distributed through South-East Asia, Pacific Islands and Australia.

References

  1. ↑ "Australian Plant Names Index" . Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Cockrane, G R; Rotherham, E R; Willis, J H (1968). Australia Flora in Colour: Flowers and Plants of Victoria. A. H. and A. W. Reed. pp. 55, 76 (coloured photograph), 180.
  3. ↑ "Timber Sample - Native Cherry, Exocarpus cupressiformis, Victoria, 1885". Museum Victoria. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  4. ↑ "Aboriginal Plant Use in SE Australia". Australian National Herbarium. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Australian Encyclopaedia. Vol. 2. Angus and Robertson Limited. 1926. p. 175.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Costermans, Leon (1983). Native Trees and Shrubs of South-Eastern Australia. Weldon Publishing. pp. 168–169 (coloured photograph).
  7. 1 2 3 Beadle, N C W; Evans, O D; Carolin, R C (1962). Handbook of the Vascular Plants of the Sydney District and the Blue Mountain. Armidale, NSW: Brown Cem Print. p. 313.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Watson, Phil (September 2002). "Our Native Cherry". Australian Plants Online. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  9. ↑ Jordan, Greg (2011). "Exocarpos cupressiformis". University of Tasmania. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  10. ↑ Everist SL. 1974 Poisonous plants of Australia. Sydney,: Angus & Robertson
  11. ↑ "Aboriginal Plant use and Technology" (PDF). Australian National Botanic Garden. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  12. ↑ Maiden, J. H. (1889). The useful native plants of Australia : Including Tasmania. Turner and Henderson, Sydney.
  13. ↑ Gardiner, Belinda (December 2002). "Propagation of Selected Understorey Species" (PDF). Department of Primary Industries. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.