| Western woody pear | |
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Proteales |
| Family: | Proteaceae |
| Genus: | Xylomelum |
| Species: | X. occidentale |
| Binomial name | |
| Xylomelum occidentale | |
Xylomelum occidentale, commonly known as the western woody pear, is a tree species in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to Western Australia.
The names for the plant used by Noongar peoples are danja, dumbung or koongal. [2] It was first described by Robert Brown in 1830. [1] The species name is derived from the Latin adjective occidentalis, meaning 'western'. [3]
The tree or shrub typically grows to a height of 2 to 8 metres (6 ft 7 in to 26 ft 3 in) and has epicormic buds. It blooms between December and February producing cream white flowers. [4] The surface of the flower is finely covered in silky hairs, the colour is a sulphurous yellow, they appear on spikes at the end of its branches. The fruit closely resembles a 'pear', those of genus Pyrus , are over three inches long, one and three quarter inches wide, and deeply split along one edge after ripening. The margins of the leaves are spiny. The bark is greyish to black, finely cracked, and persists on the tree. [5]
It is found in the South West, Peel and Swan Coastal Plain regions of Western Australia where it grows in sandy soils. [4] The species has broader leaves than its sister Xylomelum angustifolium , found to the east, although the fruit is similar. [5]
Xylomelum is a genus of six species of flowering plants, often commonly known as woody pears, in the family Proteaceae and are endemic to Australia. Plants in this genus are tall shrubs or small trees with leaves arranged in opposite pairs, relatively small flowers arranged in spike-like groups, and the fruit a woody, more or less pear-shaped follicle.
Agonis flexuosa is a species of tree that grows in the southwest of Western Australia. It is easily the most common of the Agonis species, and is one of the most recognisable trees of Western Australia, being commonly grown in parks and on road verges in Perth.
Eucalyptus erythrocorys, commonly known as illyarrie, red-capped gum or helmet nut gum, is a species of tree or mallee from Western Australia. It has smooth bark, sickle-shaped to curved adult leaves, characteristically large flower buds in groups of three with a bright red operculum, bright yellow to yellowish green flowers and sculptured, bell-shaped fruit.
Corymbia calophylla, commonly known as marri, is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It is a tree or mallee with rough bark on part or all of the trunk, lance-shaped adult leaves, branched clusters of cup-shaped or pear-shaped flower buds, each branch with three or seven buds, white to pink flowers, and relatively large oval to urn-shaped fruit, colloquially known as honky nuts. Marri wood has had many uses, both for Aboriginal people, and in the construction industry.
Eucalyptus pyriformis, commonly known as pear-fruited mallee or Dowerin rose, is a species of low, straggly mallee that is endemic to Western Australia. It has smooth greyish brown bark sometimes with ribbony bark near the base, egg-shaped to lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of three, red, pinkish or creamy white flowers and down-turned, conical fruit with prominent ribs.
Eucalyptus megacarpa, commonly known by its Noongar name of bullich, is a species of robust mallee or small to medium-sized tree with a scattered distribution in the forests of the south-west of Western Australia. It has smooth bark throughout, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of three, white flowers and cup-shaped, bell-shaped or hemispherical fruit.
Eucalyptus eudesmioides, commonly known as mallalie, desert gum or mallabie is a species of mallee that is endemic to Western Australia. It is a rounded, bushy mallee with smooth bark, egg-shaped to heart-shaped leaves arranged in opposite pairs, club-shaped flower buds arranged in groups of three, whitish flowers and cylindrical to barrel-shaped fruit.
Alphitonia excelsa, commonly known as the red ash or soap tree, is a species of tree in the family Rhamnaceae. It is endemic to Australia, being found in New South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territory and the northeastern tip of Western Australia. It is used in bush regeneration as a pioneer species and for amenity planting.
Xylomelum angustifolium, the sandplain woody pear, is a tree species in the family Proteaceae, endemic to Western Australia. A mature Xylomelum angustifolium grows from 2 to 7 metres, though trees up to 10m have been observed. Produces cream flowers between December and February though flowering can commence as early as September in its northern range.
Xylomelum pyriforme, commonly known as the woody pear, is a species of plant in the family Proteaceae native to eastern Australia. It grows as a large shrub or small tree to five metres high.
Eucalyptus loxophleba, commonly known as York gum, daarwet, goatta, twotta or yandee, is a species of tree or mallee that is endemic to Western Australia. It has rough bark on the trunk, smooth olive to brownish bark above, lance-shaped adult leaves, flowers buds in groups of between seven and eleven, white flowers and conical fruit.
Eucalyptus angulosa, also known as the ridge fruited mallee or southern ridge fruited mallee, is a eucalypt that is native to Western Australia. The Noongar peoples know the tree as quarral or kwaral.
Eucalyptus astringens, commonly known as brown mallet or to Noongar people as mallat, woonert or wurnert, is a tree that is endemic to the South West region of Western Australia. It has smooth, shiny bark on its trunk and branches, lance-shaped leaves, pendulous flower buds arranged in groups of seven, cream-coloured to pale lemon-coloured flowers and cup-shaped to bell-shaped or conical fruit. This tree has also been introduced to Victoria.
Eucalyptus leucophylla, commonly known as Cloncurry box, is a species of tree or mallee that is predominantly found in northwest Queensland with small populations possibly also occurring in the eastern Kimberley region Western Australia. It has rough, finely fissured bark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, creamy white flowers and cup-shaped fruit.
Eucalyptus longicornis, commonly known as red morrel, morryl, poot or pu, is a species of large tree that is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has rough, fibrous, fissured bark on the trunk, smooth greyish bark above, flower buds in groups of seven or more, white flowers and shortened spherical fruit.
Corymbia torta is a species of tree that is endemic to the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of three or seven, creamy white flowers and cup-shaped, cylindrical or barrel-shaped fruit.
Eucalyptus celastroides, commonly known by the Noongar name of mirret, is a species of eucalypt that is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a mallee, rarely a tree, and has rough bark on about half of the lower half of its tunk, smooth above, narrow lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven or nine, white flowers and urn-shaped fruit.
Eucalyptus costuligera is a species of small tree that is endemic to the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It has short-fibrous or flaky bark on the trunk and branches, bluish, lance-shaped adult leaves, club-shaped flower buds in branched or unbranched inflorescences with the buds in groups of up to seven, creamy-white flowers and conical, cup-shaped or pear-shaped fruit.
Eucalyptus doratoxylon, commonly known as the spearwood mallee, spearwood or geitch-gmunt in Noongar language is a species of mallee that is endemic to Western Australia. It has smooth, powdery white bark, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves mostly arranged in opposite pairs, flower buds in groups of seven, white to pale yellow flowers and pendulous, more or less spherical fruit.
Eucalyptus halophila, also known as salt lake mallee, is a species of mallee or a shrub, that is endemic to Western Australia. It has smooth white and grey bark, sometimes rough and fibrous on the lower trunk, linear to narrow elliptic adult leaves, flower buds usually in grows of seven, white flowers and shortened spherical to barrel-shaped fruit.