Gossia

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Gossia
Gossia bidwillii flower and foliage.jpg
Gossia bidwillii
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Subfamily: Myrtoideae
Tribe: Myrteae
Genus: Gossia
N.Snow & Guymer [1] [2]
Type species
Gossia retusa
N.Snow & Guymer [1] [3]

Gossia is a genus of rainforest trees in the myrtle family first described as a genus in 2003 by Neil Snow and Gordon Guymer. [1] [3] It is native to northeastern Australia (Queensland and New South Wales) as well as several islands of Papuasia and New Caledonia. [2]

Contents

Description

Species of Gossia are shrubs or trees to about 20 m (66 ft), and may be single- or multi-stemmed. Stipules are scale- or hair-like, the leaves are leathery and opposite or (rarely) sub-opposite, and they have pinnate venation. [3] [4]

The inflorescences are produced at the end of the branchlets or in the leaf axils , and may be solitary, paired or clustered, and they may bear single flowers or multiple flowers in racemes or panicles. [3] [4]

The flowers usually have four or five partially fused, green sepals which are often persistent at the apex of the fruit. There are four or five white or yellowish concave petals and numerous stamens. The styles are straight, the stigmas are terete and only slightly wider than the style. The ovary has two locules with up to 30 ovules per placenta. [3] [4]

The fruits are, in botanical terms, berries which range in colour from orange to red to, most commonly, dark purple or black. They contain up to 10 seeds. [3] [4]

Taxonomy

The type species is Gossia retusa. The name honours the conservation works of the former premier of Queensland, Wayne Goss. [1] [3] [5]

Species

As of March 2025, Plants of the World Online accepts the following 47 species: [2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Gossia". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI). Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research, Australian Government . Retrieved 28 March 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 "Gossia N.Snow & Guymer". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2025. Retrieved 28 March 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Snow, Neil; Guymer, Gordon P.; Sawvel, G. (2003). "Systematics of Austromyrtus, Lenwebbia, and the Australian Species of Gossia (Myrtaceae)". Systematic Botany Monographs. 65: 31–32. doi:10.2307/25027907. JSTOR   25027907.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Jennings, Laura V. S. (2021). "Myrtales". In Utteridge, Timothy M. A.; Jennings, Laura V. S. (eds.). Trees of New Guinea. Richmond, Surrey: Kew Publishing. p. 326. ISBN   978-1-84246-750-3.
  5. ↑ Floyd, A. G. (2008). Rainforest Trees of Mainland South-eastern Australia (2nd, Revised ed.). Lismore, New South Wales: Terania Rainforest Publishing. p. 243. ISBN   978-0-958943-67-3 . Retrieved 26 March 2010.


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