Myoporum crassifolium | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Lamiales |
Family: | Scrophulariaceae |
Genus: | Myoporum |
Species: | M. crassifolium |
Binomial name | |
Myoporum crassifolium | |
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 crassifolium is a shrub or small tree which grows to a height of 6 metres (20 ft). The leaves are arranged alternately and are 28–145 millimetres (1–6 in) long, 11–44 millimetres (0.4–2 in) wide, glabrous, thick and fleshy. They are elliptic to egg-shaped, sometimes with the narrower end towards the base, shiny on both surfaces with the mid-vein more prominent on the lower surface. [1]
The flowers are arranged in groups of 3 to 6 in the axils of the leaves and have 5 sepals and 5 white, spotted pink petals joined at their base to form a tube. The tube is 4–6 millimetres (0.16–0.24 in) long and the lobes are spreading and 2.2–3.6 millimetres (0.09–0.1 in) long. There are 4 stamens which extend slightly beyond the petals. The fruit is a pale purple to mauve, roughly spherical drupe, 5–7 millimetres (0.2–0.3 in) long. [1]
Myoporum crassifolium was first formally described in 1786 by Georg Forster in Florulae Insularum Australium Prodromus . [2] [3] The specific epithet (crassifolium) means "thick-leaved". [1]
Myoporum crassifolium occurs in New Caledonia including the Loyalty Islands [4] and on Efate and Aneityum islands in Vanuatu. It grows in shrubland and on rocky areas behind beaches. [1]
Myoporum crassifolium is classified as "not threatened". [1]
On the L'Île-des-Pins, this species is an ingredient of a medicinal preparation and inner parts of the branches can be used as torches, burning with a white light and producing a pleasant scent. [5] More than 80% of the essential oil extracted from Myoporum crassifolium is bisabolol. [6]
Myoporum laetum, commonly known as ngaio or mousehole tree is a plant in the family Scrophulariaceae endemic to New Zealand, including the Chatham Islands. It is a fast growing shrub, readily distinguished from others in the genus by the transparent dots in the leaves which are visible when held to a light.
Myoporum is a genus of flowering plants in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae. There are 30 species in the genus, eighteen of which are endemic to Australia although others are endemic to Pacific Islands, including New Zealand, and one is endemic to two Indian Ocean islands. They are shrubs or small trees with leaves that are arranged alternately and have white, occasionally pink flowers and a fruit that is a drupe.
Myoporum insulare, commonly known as common boobialla, native juniper, is a species of flowering plant in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to coastal areas of Australia. It is a shrub or small tree which grows on dunes and coastal cliffs, is very salt tolerant and widely used in horticulture.
Myoporum parvifolium, commonly known as creeping boobialla, creeping myoporum, dwarf native myrtle or small leaved myoporum is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae. It is a low, spreading shrub with long, trailing stems and white, star-shaped flowers and is endemic to southern Australia including Flinders Island.
Myoporum viscosum, commonly known as sticky boobialla, is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to South Australia. It is unusual in that sometimes, especially when the leaves are crushed, it has an extremely unpleasant smell.
Raukaua simplex is a species of evergreen plant in the Araliaceae family. This species is native to New Zealand. The species occurs in certain lowland, montane and subalpine forests from the Waihou River southward to Stewart Island and the Auckland Islands. An example occurrence in Westland forests includes associates such as Cyathea smithii and Dicksonia squarrosa.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
Myoporum obscurum, commonly known as popwood, sandalwood or bastard ironwood is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae. It is a very rare shrub, endemic to Norfolk Island where it occurs in a few scattered locations.
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.
Myoporum platycarpum, known by several common names including sugarwood, false sandalwood and ngural is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae. It is rounded with bright green foliage as a young shrub and roughly fissured, dark grey bark when mature. Sugarwood is endemic to the southern half of continental Australia.
Myoporum tenuifolium is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and it is endemic to New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands. It can be distinguished from Myoporum crassifolium, by its very thin leaves and its glabrous flowers.
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.
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 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.
Luisia tristis, commonly known as the velvet orchid, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid with wiry stems often forming tangled clumps, cylindrical leaves and flowering stems with up to three green flowers with a dark red to dark maroon labellum. This orchid occurs in tropical Asia, New Guinea, Australia and some islands of the Western Pacific Ocean.