| Meryta denhamii | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Apiales |
| Family: | Araliaceae |
| Genus: | Meryta |
| Species: | M. denhamii |
| Binomial name | |
| Meryta denhamii | |
Meryta denhamii is an evergreen tree endemic to the Pacific island of New Caledonia, where it occurs in dense humid forest.
Meryta denhamii grows to about 6 metres (20 ft) tall. The large, stiff, leathery leaves are elongated, curved at the edges and appear in tufts or bunches at the ends of the branches. Their central rib is thick and fleshy with longitudinal grooves. On younger trees the leaves are up to 45 centimetres (18 in) long and about 12 cm (4.7 in) wide. On older trees the leaves may be up to 1 m (3.3 ft) long and 24 cm (9.4 in) wide. The flowers exude a sweet scent. The plants are either female or male. Since the anthers protrude from the flowers, it is likely that the pollen is spread mainly by wind. Female flowers also occasionally produce anthers, but these are stunted and unproductive.
Meryta denhamii owes its discovery to the Scot William Grant Milne (?–1866), a gardener at the Edinburgh Botanic Garden, who joined the HMS Herald expedition to the south-western Pacific (1852–1856) as a botanist. Milne found the tree growing on the Isle of Pines in the south of New Caledonia. Specimens were sent to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew, London, where the plant flowered in the greenhouse in 1860. Two years later botanist Berthold Seeman named the plant Meryta denhamii in honour of Henry Mangles Denham, captain of Herald, for whom also the town of Denham, Western Australia was named.
Rare in cultivation, Meryta denhamii may be grown fairly easily in warm frost-free climates like those of Sydney, Australia, or Florida in the United States. A slightly hardier alternative is the New Zealand Puka tree, Meryta sinclairii , which has wider leaves and can withstand frosts down to −2 °C (28 °F) once established.
Melaleuca is a genus of nearly 300 species of plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, commonly known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles or tea-trees. They range in size from small shrubs that rarely grow to more than 16 m (52 ft) high, to trees up to 35 m (115 ft). Their flowers generally occur in groups, forming a "head" or "spike" resembling a brush used for cleaning bottles, containing up to 80 individual flowers.
Telopea speciosissima, commonly known as the New South Wales waratah or simply waratah, is a large shrub in the plant family Proteaceae. It is endemic to New South Wales in Australia and is the floral emblem of that state. No subspecies are recognised, but the closely related Telopea aspera was only recently classified as a separate species.
Acacia cultriformis, known as the knife-leaf wattle, dogtooth wattle, half-moon wattle or golden-glow wattle, is a perennial tree or shrub of the genus Acacia native to Australia. It is widely cultivated, and has been found to have naturalised in Asia, Africa, North America, New Zealand and South America. A. cultriformis grows to a height of about 4 m (13 ft) and has triangle-shaped phyllodes. The yellow flowers appear from August to November in its natural range. Its attractive foliage and bright flowers make it a popular garden plant.
Pleiogynium timoriense, commonly known as the Burdekin plum, sweet plum, tulip plum, or in the Djabugay language guybalum, is a medium-sized fruit-bearing tree in the cashew and mango family Anacardiaceae native to Malesia, Australia and the Pacific Islands.
Hakea laurina is shrub or small tree commonly known as kodjet or pin-cushion hakea and is endemic to Western Australia. The Noongar name for the plant is kodjet or kojet. It has red and cream conspicuous globular flowers and lance shaped leaves.
Hymenosporum is a monotypic genus in the family Pittosporaceae. The sole included species is Hymenosporum flavum, commonly known as native frangipani, which is a rainforest tree native to New Guinea, Queensland and New South Wales. Despite its common name, it is not closely related to the frangipani, but is related to the widespread genus Pittosporum.
William Grant Milne, was a Scottish botanist.
Syncarpia glomulifera, commonly known as the turpentine tree, or yanderra, is a tree of the family Myrtaceae native to New South Wales and Queensland in Australia, which can reach 60 metres in height. It generally grows on heavier soils. The cream flowers appear in spring and are fused into compound flowerheads.
Eucalyptus woodwardii, commonly known as lemon-flowered gum and also Woodward's blackbutt, is a small tree or mallee that is endemic to Western Australia. The Noongar name for the tree is Gungurra.
Acacia pendula, commonly known as the weeping myall, true myall, myall, silver-leaf boree, boree, and nilyah, is a species of wattle, which is native to Australia. The 1889 book The Useful Native Plants of Australia records that common names included "Weeping Myall", "True Myall", and Indigenous people of western areas of New South Wales and Queensland referred to the plant as "Boree" and "Balaar".
Araucaria columnaris, the coral reef araucaria, Cook pine, New Caledonia pine, Cook araucaria, or columnar araucaria, is a species of conifer in the family Araucariaceae.
Meryta latifolia, commonly known as broad-leaved meryta or shade tree, is an evergreen tree endemic to Norfolk Island, Australia, where it occurs in subtropical moist forest conditions.
Telopea mongaensis, commonly known as the Monga waratah or Braidwood waratah, is a shrub or small tree in the family Proteaceae. Endemic to Australia, it grows at high altitude in south eastern New South Wales, where it is often seen in moist areas at the edge of rainforest or by streams in eucalyptus forests. Growing to 6 m (20 ft) high, it has narrow green leaves 4–18 cm (1.6–7.1 in) in length, and 0.5–2 cm (0.20–0.79 in) wide. In spring bears many red flowerheads, each made up of 28 to 65 individual flowers.
Telopea oreades, commonly known as the Gippsland-, mountain- or Victorian waratah, is a large shrub or small tree in the family Proteaceae. Native to southeastern Australia, it is found in wet sclerophyll forest and rainforest on rich acidic soils high in organic matter. No subspecies are recognised, though a northern isolated population hybridises extensively with the Braidwood waratah (T. mongaensis). Reaching a height of up to 19 metres, T. oreades grows with a single trunk and erect habit. It has dark green leaves with prominent veins that are 11–28 centimetres (4.3–11 in) long and 1.5–6 cm (0.6–2.4 in) wide. The red flower heads, known as inflorescences, appear in late spring. Each is composed of up to 60 individual flowers.
Lasiopetalum ferrugineum, commonly known as rusty velvet-bush, is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family and is endemic to eastern Australia. Growing up to a metre tall, much of the plant is covered in rusty hairs. It is found in forest and heathland.
Acacia rigens, commonly known as nealie, is an erect or spreading shrub or small tree that is endemic to Australia. Other common names include needle wattle, needlebush acacia, nealia and nilyah.
Homalanthus nutans, known locally as the mamala tree, is a species of plant in the family Euphorbiaceae. In Australia it is known as the bleeding heart and the Queensland poplar.
Melaleuca citrina, the common red bottlebrush, crimson bottlebrush, or lemon bottlebrush, is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, and is endemic to eastern Australia. Some Australian state herbaria continue to use the name Callistemon citrinus. It is a hardy and adaptable species, common in its natural habitat. It is widely cultivated, not only in Australia. It was one of the first Australian plants to be grown outside the country, having been taken to England in 1770 by Joseph Banks. Its showy red flower spikes, present over most of the year in an ideal situation, account for its popularity.
Grevillea stenobotrya is a shrub or small tree in the family Proteaceae that is endemic to arid regions of Australia. Common names include rattle-pod grevillea, sandhill grevillea, sandhill oak and sandhill spider flower.
Trema tomentosum, also known as T. tomentosa and commonly called poison peach, is a shrub or tree in the family Cannabaceae native to the Indian subcontinent, south east Asia, through the islands of the south west Pacific, and the east coast and northern half of Australia.
