Myoporum betcheanum

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Mountain boobialla
Myoporum betcheanum.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Scrophulariaceae
Genus: Myoporum
Species:
M. betcheanum
Binomial name
Myoporum betcheanum

Myoporum betcheanum, commonly known as mountain boobialla is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae. It is a shrub or small tree with long, narrow leaves that are a darker green on their upper surface than the lower. Its flowers have five white petals and are arranged in small groups in the leaf axils. The fruits which follow are more or less spherical, soft, cream coloured drupes. As its common name suggests, this plant is restricted to higher places, around 1,000 metres (3,000 ft) above sea level. It occurs in the McPherson Range and nearby mountains of New South Wales and Queensland.

Contents

Description

Myoporum betcheanum is a shrub or small tree growing to about 8 metres (30 ft) high. Its branches often have a few to many small, wart-like tubercles and are moderately to densely hairy. The leaves are 58–130 millimetres (2–5 in) long or longer, 6–19 millimetres (0.2–0.7 in) wide, flat, narrow elliptic in shape and with small teeth on the margins. They are darker on the upper surface, but both surfaces are covered with short, soft hairs. [1] [2]

The flowers are arranged in groups of 3 to 8 on a short stalk in the axils of the leaves and have 5 sepals and 5 white petals joined at their base to form a tube. The tube is 2.9–4.9 millimetres (0.1–0.2 in) long, the lobes are 2.8–3.7 millimetres (0.11–0.15 in) long and there are 4 stamens. Flowering occurs between December and May [3] and is followed by fruits which are drupes with three compartments, each with one seed. The fruits are roughly oval to spherical in shape and are smooth, white or cream coloured tinged with pink. [1] [2]

Taxonomy and naming

Myoporum betcheanum was first formally described in 1969 by Lindsay Stuart Smith in Contributions from the Queensland Herbarium from a specimen collected at Cunninghams Gap. [4] The specific epithet (betcheanum) honours Ernst Betche who was the first to recognise this as a separate species. [1]

Distribution and habitat

Myoporum betcheanum occurs on the edges of rainforest and in wet forests at 850–1,100 metres (3,000–4,000 ft) above sea level in mountains of the Great Dividing Range north of Casino in New South Wales and in the McPherson Range and nearby mountains in Queensland. [1] [2]

Use in horticulture

Myoporum betcheanum is an attractive species for the garden because although the flowers are small, they are profuse and appear over an extended period. It is readily propagated from cuttings. [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Eremophila oppositifolia</i> Species of plant

Eremophila oppositifolia, commonly known as weeooka, twin-leaf emu bush and mountain sandalwood, is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae, and is endemic to Australia. It is a shrub or small tree with its leaves arranged in opposite pairs and has cream to red or sometimes maroon coloured flowers. It occurs in all mainland states, but not the Northern Territory.

Myoporum rapense is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to French Polynesia and the Kermadec Islands. It is closely related to Myoporum laetum and there are two subspecies which are found on different island groups.

Myoporum rimatarense is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Rimatara Island in French Polynesia. It is only known from the type specimen collected in 1921 and 1934 and is presumed extinct.

Myoporum stokesii is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to the island of Raivavae in French Polynesia. It is similar to the two other members of its genus on the island, Myoporum rapense and Myoporum rimatarense although the former has serrated leaves and the latter has wider leaves and differently shaped fruits.

<i>Eremophila cuneifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Eremophila cuneifolia, commonly known as pinyuru, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to the north-west of Western Australia. It is a spreading, sticky shrub with wedge-shaped leaves, coloured sepals and usually deep purple flowers.

<i>Myoporum sandwicense</i> Species of tree

Myoporum sandwicense, commonly known as naio, bastard sandalwood or false sandalwood is a species of flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae. It is a tree or shrub highly variable in its form, the size and shape of its leaves, in the number of flowers in a group and in the shape of its fruit. It is endemic to Hawaiʻi.

<i>Myoporum petiolatum</i> Species of plant

Myoporum petiolatum, commonly known as sticky boobialla, is a plant in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae, and is endemic to the south-east of continental Australia. For many years this species has been confused with the much less common species Myoporum viscosum from which it can be distinguished by its thinner, noticeably petiolate and non-odorous leaves.

<i>Myoporum montanum</i> Species of plant

Myoporum montanum, commonly known as waterbush or boobialla, is a shrub native to Australia, New Guinea and Timor. The species is extremely variable in size growth habit and leaf form, with three primary forms recognised. Its occurrence in many places is restricted to coastal regions, watercourses and other locales with more reliable water supplies. It was this association with water that gave rise to the name water bush.

<i>Myoporum boninense</i> Species of shrub

Myoporum boninense is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae. It is a shrub with thick, fleshy, glossy leaves, white flowers in small groups and shiny lilac to pale purple fruits. It grows in coastal heath in New South Wales and Queensland in Australia and on islands in the north west Pacific Ocean.

<i>Myoporum brevipes</i> Species of plant

Myoporum brevipes, commonly known as the pale myoporum, is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae. It is sometimes a prostrate, others an erect shrub. Its branches and leaves are warty and it has white or pink flowers, often spotted, followed by succulent white fruits. It generally grows in arid areas in South Australia but has also been found in Victoria and Western Australia.

<i>Myoporum caprarioides</i> Species of shrub

Myoporum caprarioides, commonly known as slender myoporum, is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae. It is a shrub with wart-like tubercles covering its branches and leaves, especially on the upper surface and white flowers spotted with mauve, or all blue-mauve, present for most of the warmer months.

<i>Myoporum cordifolium</i> Species of shrub

Myoporum cordifolium, commonly known as Jerramungup myoporum, is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae. It is a shrub with thin, stiff branches and tiny, heart-shaped leaves, both covered with wart-like tubercles. Single white flowers with purple spots develop in the leaf axils and are followed by wrinkled green or brown fruits. It is endemic to a small area in the south-west of Western Australia

Myoporum crassifolium is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae. It is a shrub or small tree with thick, fleshy leaves and small groups of white flowers spotted with pink or purple. It is endemic to New Caledonia, Vanuatu and the Loyalty Islands and is a rich source of the essential oil, bisabolol.

Myoporum mauritianum is a flowering plant in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to a few volcanic islands in the Indian Ocean. It is a small, low-branched shrub with serrated leaves and small white flowers and usually grows on calcarenite within 20 metres (70 ft) of the sea.

<i>Myoporum oppositifolium</i> Species of flowering plant

Myoporum oppositifolium, commonly known as twin-leaf myoporum, is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae. It is easily distinguished from others in the genus by the combination of glabrous leaves and branches, its opposite leaf arrangement and its serrated leaves. Its distribution is restricted to the extreme south-west of Western Australia.

<i>Myoporum tetrandrum</i> Species of flowering plant

Myoporum tetrandrum, commonly known as slender myoporum or boobialla is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae. It is an erect and spreading shrub endemic to the south-west of Western Australia, common in moist areas and like most of the other members of its genus has bell shaped, star-like white flowers in the leaf axils.

<i>Myoporum velutinum</i> Species of flowering plant

Myoporum velutinum is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to a small area near Esperance in Western Australia. It has similar flowers and fruits and grows in similar environments to Myoporum tetrandrum but differs from it and all other members of the genus by having hairs on the outer edge of the petals.

<i>Myoporum wilderi</i> Species of flowering plant

Myoporum wilderi, commonly known as Cook Islands myoporum or ngaio, is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to the islands of Mangaia and Mitiaro in the Cook Islands. It is similar to Myoporum stokesii and Myoporum rimatarense which grow on other Pacific Islands. On the island of Raratonga it is used to add a scent to coconut oil.

Myoporum bontioides commonly known as ku jian lan, is a species of the flowering plant in the family Scrophulariaceae. It is a shrub growing in coastal areas of southern Japan and South China including beaches and estuaries where there are no large breaking waves.

Eremophila cuneata is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to the Shark Bay area of Western Australia. It is a rarely-seen, small shrub with wedge-shaped leaves and white to cream-coloured flowers.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Chinnock, R.J. (Bob) (2007). Eremophila and allied genera : a monograph of the plant family Myoporaceae (1st ed.). Dural, NSW: Rosenberg. pp. 128–129. ISBN   9781877058165.
  2. 1 2 3 "Myoporum betcheanum". Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Newsletter: February - March 2012" (PDF). Australian Plants Society - Armidale and District Group. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  4. "Myoporum betcheanum". APNI. Retrieved 14 August 2015.