| silkwood | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Male plant in flower in Cairns | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Sapindales |
| Family: | Sapindaceae |
| Genus: | Lepiderema |
| Species: | L. sericolignis |
| Binomial name | |
| Lepiderema sericolignis | |
| Synonyms [3] | |
Cupania sericolignisF.M.Bailey | |
Lepiderema sericolignis, commonly known as silkwood, is a plant in the maple and lychee family Sapindaceae found only in the Wet Tropics bioregion of Queensland, Australia.
Lepiderema sericolignis is a small tree to about 4 m (13 ft) high. The compound leaves have 2, 3, or rarely 4 pairs of leaflets that are glossy green above and dull green below. The leaflets are held on very short pulvinate stems about 5 mm (0.20 in) long. They measure up to 16 cm (6.3 in) long and 6 cm (2.4 in) wide and are elliptic in outline, with between 7 and 12 pairs of lateral veins in the blades. [4] [5] [6]
The inflorescences are short spikes about 4.5 cm (1.8 in) long, produced in small clusters on old wood and in the leaf axils. Flowers are either male or female, white to creamy yellow, with 5 petals and measuring about 5 mm (0.20 in) wide. The fruit is a globose, apricot/orange capsule up to 2 cm (0.79 in) long and wide, with three segments each containing a single black seed almost fully enclosed in a yellow aril. The capsules persist on the branches after ripening and dry dark brown or black. [4] [5] [6]
Flowering occurs between March and May, and fruit are ripe from August to December. [7] [8] [lower-alpha 1]
This species was first described in 1892 as Cupania sericolignis by the Australian botanist Frederick Manson Bailey. [9] In 1924, the Bavarian botanist Ludwig Adolph Timotheus Radlkofer transferred it to the current genus Lepiderema. [2]
The genus name Lepidorema is from the Ancient Greek words lepís meaning a scale or flake, and erêmos meaning "bereft of" or without. It refers to the scale-less petals. [4] The species epithet sericolignis is derived from the Ancient Greek sērikós meaning silky, and the Latin lignis meaning wood, and is a reference to the sheen of the timber. [7]
Lepiderema sericolignis inhabits rainforest, often close to rivers or mangrove communities, from around Rossville southwards to about Ingham. The altitudinal range is from sea level to about 1,000 m (3,300 ft). [4] [6] [7] [10]
This species is listed as least concern under the Queensland Government's Nature Conservation Act. [1] As of 23 April 2024 [update] , it has not been assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Lepiderema is a genus of eight species of trees in the lychee family Sapindaceae native to New Guinea and eastern Australia, plus one more from Queensland that is yet to be formally described. The type species is Lepiderema papuana.
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.
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.
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.
Neostrearia is a monotypic genus - i.e. a genus containing only one species - of plants in the witch-hazel family Hamamelidaceae. It is the second described of three monotypic Australian genera in this family, the others being Ostrearia and Noahdendron. It is most closely related to these genera, as well as Trichocladus from southern Africa and Dicoryphe from Madagascar, and together these five genera form a distinct clade within Hamamelidaceae.
Noadendron is a monotypic genus - i.e. a genus containing only one species - of plants in the witch-hazel family Hamamelidaceae. It is the third described of three monotypic Australian genera in this family, the others being Ostrearia and Neostrearia. It is most closely related to these genera, as well as Trichocladus from southern Africa and Dicoryphe from Madagascar, and together these five genera form a distinct clade within Hamamelidaceae.
Mackinlaya macrosciadea, commonly known as mackinlaya or blue umbrella, is a plant in the carrot, fennel and parsley family Apiaceae, found in the Northern Territory and Queensland, Australia.
Diploglottis harpullioides, commonly known as Babinda tamarind, is a rainforest tree in the lychee and maple family Sapindaceae which is found only in northeast Queensland, Australia.
Harpullia ramiflora, commonly known as the Claudie tulipwood or Cape York tulipwood, is a tree in the Sapindaceae family native to north east Queensland, New Guinea and parts of Malesia.
Harpullia rhyticarpa, commonly known as slender harpullia, is a plant in the family Sapindaceae which is endemic to the rainforests northeastern Queensland, Australia.
Diploglottis diphyllostegia, commonly known as the northern tamarind, native tamarind or wild tamarind, is a tree in the lychee family Sapindaceae which is endemic to Queensland, Australia. It is an attractive tree with potential in cultivation, with a dense crown of dark green leaves and masses of fruit in spring and summer.
Diploglottis obovata, commonly known as blunt-leaved tamarind, is a plant in the family Sapindaceae endemic to central eastern Queensland, Australia. Until 1987 it was considered to be a form of the very closely related Diploglottis diphyllostegia.
Cupaniopsis flagelliformis, commonly known as brown tuckeroo or weeping flower tamarind, is a tree in the lychee, guaraná and maple family Sapindaceae which is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a small tree that inhabits drier or seasonal rainforests.
Gillbeea adenopetala, commonly known as Pink alder, is an evergreen tree in the largely southern hemisphere family Cunoniaceae. It was first described in 1865 and is endemic to a small part of Queensland, Australia.
Diploglottis bernieana, commonly known as Bernie's tamarind or large leaf tamarind, is a plant in the maple and lychee family Sapindaceae. It was first described in 1987 by the Australian botanist Sally T. Reynolds and is found only the Wet Tropics region of northeastern Queensland, Australia.
Diploglottis alaticarpa is a plant in the maple and lychee family Sapindaceae which is endemic to northeast Queensland, Australia. It was first recognised as a distinct species in 1994 and was formally described in 2014.
Actephila foetida is a plant in the family Phyllanthaceae that is found only in a very restricted range within the Wet Tropics bioregion of Queensland, Australia. It was first described in 1927.
Aglaia ferruginea, commonly known as rusty boodyarra or rusty Aglaia, is a plant in the mahogany family Meliaceae that is native to northern Queensland, Australia. The name A. tomentosa has been misapplied to the species in the past.
Cupaniopsis foveolata, commonly known as narrow-leaved tuckeroo, white tamarind or toothed tuckeroo, is a plant in the maple and lychee family Sapindaceae found in eastern Queensland and New South Wales, Australia.
Diploglottis smithii, commonly known as Smith's tamarind or wild tamarind, is a plant in the maple family Sapindaceae found only in the Wet Tropics bioregion of Queensland, Australia.
