Alpinia is a genus of flowering plants in the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. Species are native to Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands, where they occur in tropical and subtropical climates. Several species are cultivated as ornamental plants.
Winteraceae is a primitive family of tropical trees and shrubs including 93 species in five genera. It is of particular interest because it is such a primitive angiosperm family, distantly related to Magnoliaceae, though it has a much more southern distribution. Plants in this family grow mostly in the southern hemisphere, and have been found in tropical to temperate climate regions of Malesia, Oceania, eastern Australia, New Zealand, Madagascar and the Neotropics, with most of the genera concentrated in Australasia and Malesia. The five genera, Takhtajania, Tasmannia, Drimys, Pseudowintera, and Zygogynum s.l. all have distinct geographic extant populations. Takhtajania includes a single species, T. perrieri, endemic only to Madagascar, Tasmannia has the largest distribution of genera in Winteraceae with species across the Philippines, Borneo, New Guinea, Eastern Australia, and Tasmannia, Drimys is found in the Neotropical realm, from southern Mexico to the subarctic forests of southern South America, Pseudowintera is found only in New Zealand, and Zygogynum has species in New Guinea and New Caledonia.
Drimys is a genus of seven species of woody evergreen flowering plants, in the family Winteraceae. The species are native to the Neotropics, ranging from southern Mexico to the southern tip of South America. They are primitive dicots, associated with the humid temperate Antarctic flora of the Southern Hemisphere, which evolved millions of years ago on the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana. Members of the family generally have aromatic bark and leaves, and some are used to extract essential oils.
Elaeocarpus is a genus of nearly five hundred species of flowering plants in the family Elaeocarpaceae native to the Western Indian Ocean, Tropical and Subtropical Asia, and the Pacific. Plants in the genus Elaeocarpus are trees or shrubs with simple leaves, flowers with four or five petals usually, and usually blue fruit.
Bush tucker, also called bush food, is any food native to Australia and historically eaten by Indigenous Australians, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but it can also describe any native flora, fauna, or funga used for culinary or medicinal purposes, regardless of the continent or culture. Animal native foods include kangaroo, emu, witchetty grubs and crocodile, and plant foods include fruits such as quandong, kutjera, spices such as lemon myrtle and vegetables such as warrigal greens and various native yams.
Tasmannia lanceolata, commonly known as Tasmanian pepperberry or mountain pepper, is a shrub native to woodlands and cool temperate rainforest of south-eastern Australia. The shrub varies from 2–10 metres (6.6–32.8 ft) high. The aromatic leaves are lanceolate to narrow-elliptic or oblanceolate, 4–12 cm long, and 0.7–2.0 cm wide, with a distinctly pale undersurface. Stems are quite red in colour. The small cream or white flowers appear in summer and are followed by black, globose, two-lobed berries 5–8 mm wide, which appear in autumn. There are separate male and female plants.
Tasmannia stipitata, commonly known as the Dorrigo pepper or northern pepperbush is a rainforest shrub of temperate forests of the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. Leaves are fragrant, narrow-lanceolate to narrow-elliptic, 8–13 cm long. Dark bluish to mauve berries follow the flowers on female shrubs. The species is dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants.
Hibbertia dentata, commonly known as toothed guinea flower, trailing guinea flower or twining guinea flower, is an ornamental plant in the family Dilleniaceae native to the east coast of Australia. Found in woodland, it is a trailing or twining vine with leaves with several small 'teeth' on the margins and bright yellow flowers in early spring. It adapts readily to cultivation and can be grown as a pot plant. The species was first described in 1817.
Eucalyptus piperita, commonly known as Sydney peppermint and urn-fruited peppermint, is a small to medium forest tree native to New South Wales, Australia.
Bleasdalea is a genus of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae.
Zygogynum is a genus of plant in the winter's bark family Winteraceae. 19 species are native to New Caledonia, and are pollinated primarily by beetles and moths. Other species are native to New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomon Islands, Lord Howe Island, and Queensland.
Dipodium, commonly known as hyacinth orchids, is a genus of about forty species of orchids native to tropical, subtropical and temperate regions of south-east Asia, New Guinea, the Pacific Islands and Australia. It includes both terrestrial and climbing species, some with leaves and some leafless, but all with large, often colourful flowers on tall flowering stems. It is the only genus of its alliance, Dipodium.
Tasmannia xerophila, commonly known as alpine pepperbush, is a shrub of eucalypt forest, alpine grassland and rocky terrain of New South Wales and Victoria, Australia.
Tasmannia purpurascens, commonly known as the broad-leaved pepperbush or purple pepperbush is a shrub in the primitive family Winteraceae and is only found growing in the Barrington Tops and Ben Halls Gap regions of New South Wales. It is locally abundant in a restricted subalpine habitat with a high rainfall, often growing in the ecotone in association with Antarctic Beech.
Tasmannia insipida, the brush pepperbush, is a shrub native to Australia that can grow 1 to 3 metres high with reddish stems.
Tasmannia piperita is a species of shrubs or treelets belonging to the Winter's bark family (Winteraceae) and native to Borneo, the Philippines, Sulawesi, the Moluccas, Flores, New Guinea, and Australia. It is the most widespread species of Tasmannia and the only one occurring outside of Australia. Also known as Drimys piperita, it is the most variable flower discovered to date: it may have as many as fifteen petals or as few as none, as many as 109 stamens or as few as 7, and as many as fifteen carpels or as few as one.
Vrydagzynea, commonly called tonsil orchids, is a genus of orchids in the tribe Cranichideae. About forty five species of Vrydagzynea have been formally described. They are native to India, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Malesia, Melanesia and Polynesia. A single species in Australia is possibly extinct. They have thinly textured, stalked leaves and small, dull-coloured resupinate flowers with the dorsal sepal and petals overlapping to form a hood over the column.
Hetaeria, commonly known as hairy jewel orchids, is a genus of about thirty species of flowering plants in the orchid family Orchidaceae. Plants in this genus are terrestrial herbs with a succulent rhizome and a loose rosette of leaves. Small, pale, hairy non-resupinate flowers are borne on a thin, hairy flowering stem. They are found in tropical Africa and Asia to New Guinea, Australia and some Pacific Islands.
Palmeria is a genus of about 17 species of flowering plants in the family Monimiaceae mostly native to Australia and New Guinea. One species is also native to Sulawesi and the Bismarck Archipelago. Plants in the genus Palmeria are woody climbers or climbing shrub with usually 7 to 15 flowers, the flowers either male or female.
