Cuttsia

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Cuttsia
Cuttsia viburnea 2329.jpg
Cuttsia viburnea
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Rousseaceae
Subfamily: Carpodetoideae
Genus: Cuttsia
F.Muell.
Species:
C. viburnea
Binomial name
Cuttsia viburnea

Cuttsia viburnea is a shrub or bushy tree which has toothed leaves and panicles of white flowers, and that is endemic to eastern Australia. It is sometimes called silver-leaved cuttsia, and confusingly also native elderberry, honey bush or native hydrangea (because these names are also used for other native Australian species). [1] [2] C. viburnea is the only species assigned to the genus Cuttsia.

Contents

Description

The silver-leaved cuttsia is a shrub or bushy tree of up to 15 m high. Its branchlets however are initially herbaceous and have conspicuous lenticels. Young shoots and inflorescences have hairs that are flat against the surface. Leaves are alternately arranged along the stems. The leaf stem is 1½-4½ cm long. The leaf blades are hairless, soft and thin in texture, bright green and shiny above with a paler underside, oval with the widest point at or beyond midlength, 8–20 × 2–6½ cm. Its foot gradually narrows into the leaf stem, the edge is uniformly toothed and each tooth ends in a gland, and its tip is pointed. The secondary veins emerge at about 45° from the main vein and strongly curve, with their ends parallel to the edge of the leaf.

The inflorescence is a multi-flowered panicle of 8–18 cm long. The symmetrical star-shaped flowers are pentamerous and pleasantly honey scented. The five triangular green sepals are less than 1 mm long. The five free white petals are long inverted tear-shaped 3–4 mm long and have a pointy tip. The five narrow white filaments alternate with the petals and are topped with anthers shorter than the filament, that shed cream-colored pollen. Pollen is tricolpate, triangular from a polar perspective and round from an equatorial perspective, about 20 μm, has a netted surface structure and is not shed in clusters of four but individually (microscope). On top of the yellowish disc sits a narrow white style that has a stigma with five lobes. Flowers can be found from October to December. The fruit is a green to light brown globose to ovoid capsule of 3–4 mm long, each locule of which opens separately. Seeds are minute and ovoid in shape. [1] [3] [4]

Cuttsia has white flowers with filaments longer than the anthers, a definite style and dry capsules, while Abrophyllum has creamy yellow flowers with filaments shorter than the anther, a seated stigma and the fruit is a berry that is black when ripe. In Cuttsia the ovary is superior, the stigma has five lobes and the seeds are small and ovate, while in Carpodetus the ovary is semi-inferior and topped by a conspicuous disc, the stigma is undivided and the seeds are angular, while the fruit is a black or greyish berry. [5]

Taxonomy

The genus and species were first formally described by botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in 1865 in Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae . [6]

Modern classification

Cuttsia is most related to Abrophyllum and Carpodetus and these were joined in the Carpodetaceae. Recent genetic analysis showed a close relationship of this cluster with Roussea , an endemic of Mauritius, and these now constitute the Rousseaceae. [7]

Phylogeny

The following tree represents the current insights in the relationships of Roussea with other taxa. [7]

family  Campanulaceae

subfamily Rousseoideae

Roussea

subfamily Carpodetoideae

Abrophyllum

Cuttsia

Carpodetus

Distribution

The silver-leaved cuttsia grows on the East-coast of Australia between Noosa Heads, Queensland and Newcastle, New South Wales and a few isolated locations in the mountains of Queensland. [8]

Ecology

The silver-leaved cuttsia occurs in subtropical and warm-temperate rainforest, and has a preference for locations with more light such as margins, regrowth, and along steams. [1] The species is self-infertile. [2] The flowers produce nectar and are visited by an array of different insects. [5] Adults of the jewel beetle Calodema regalis are said to feed on Cuttsia. [9]

Related Research Articles

<i>Oxydendrum</i> Genus of trees

Oxydendrum arboreum, the sourwood or sorrel tree, is the sole species in the genus Oxydendrum, in the family Ericaceae. It is native to eastern North America, from southern Pennsylvania south to northwest Florida and west to southern Illinois; it is most common in the lower chain of the Appalachian Mountains. The tree is frequently seen as a component of oak-heath forests.

<i>Passiflora caerulea</i> Species of flowering plant in the passion flower family Passifloraceae

Passiflora caerulea, the blue passionflower, bluecrown passionflower or common passion flower, is a species of flowering plant native to South America. It has been introduced elsewhere. It is a vigorous, deciduous or semi-evergreen tendril vine growing to 10 m (33 ft) or more. Its leaves are palmate and fragrant, flowers blue-white with a prominent fringe of coronal filaments in bands of blue, white, and brown. The ovoid orange fruit, growing to 6 cm (2 in), is edible but bland.

<i>Flindersia</i> Genus of flowering plants

Flindersia is a genus of 17 species of small to large trees in the family Rutaceae. They have simple or pinnate leaves, flowers arranged in panicles at or near the ends of branchlets and fruit that is a woody capsule containing winged seeds. They grow naturally in Australia, the Moluccas, New Guinea and New Caledonia.

Sabiaceae Family of flowering plants

Sabiaceae is a family of flowering plants that were placed in the order Proteales according to the APG IV system. It comprises three genera, Meliosma, Ophiocaryon and Sabia, with 66 known species, native to tropical to warm temperate regions of southern Asia and the Americas. The family has also been called Meliosmaceae Endl., 1841, nom. rej.

<i>Abrophyllum</i> Genus of flowering plants

Abrophyllum is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Saxifragaceae sensu lato according to Engler, A. in Engler & Prantl and Schulze-Menz, G. K. in Melchior, 1964; placed in Subfamily Escallonioideae, Tribe Cuttsieae, it is closely related to Cuttsia. In the APG II system Abrophyllum is placed in family Rousseaceae.

Calyceraceae Family of flowering plants

Calyceraceae is a plant family in the order Asterales. The natural distribution of the about sixty species belonging to this family is restricted to the southern half of South-America. The species of the family resemble both the family Asteraceae and the Dipsacaceae.

<i>Beaufortia</i> (plant) Genus of flowering plants

Beaufortia is a genus of woody shrubs and small trees in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. The genus Beaufortia is closely related to Melaleuca, Calothamnus, Regelia and several others, differing mainly in the way the anthers are attached to the stalks of the stamens, and in the way they open to release their pollen. Beaufortia anthers are attached at one end and open by splitting at the other.

<i>Ixerba</i> Genus of trees

Ixerba brexioides, the sole species in the genus Ixerba, is a bushy tree with thick, narrow, serrated, dark green leaves and panicles of white flowers with a green heart. The fruit is a green capsule that splits open to reveal the black seeds partly covered with a fleshy scarlet aril against the white inside of the fruit. Ixerba is an endemic of the northern half of the North Island of New Zealand. Common names used in New Zealand are tawari for the tree and whakou when in flower. It is assigned to the family Strasburgeriaceae.

<i>Bauera rubioides</i> Species of flowering plant

Bauera rubioides is a shrubby, flowering plant found in the eastern states of Australia. It has also been referred to as madder-leaved bauera, a comparison to another genus which is commonly named madder.

<i>Clarkia pulchella</i> Species of flowering plant

Clarkia pulchella also known as pinkfairies, ragged robin, and deerhorn clarkia is a species of flowering plant in the family Onagraceae.

<i>Paeonia delavayi</i> Shrub in the family Paeoniaceae from southwest China

Paeonia delavayi is a low woody shrub belonging to the peonies, that is endemic to China. The vernacular name in China is 滇牡丹, which means "Yunnan peony". In English it is sometimes called Delavay's tree peony. It mostly has red brown to yellow, nodding flowers from mid May to mid June. The light green, delicate looking deciduous leaves consist of many segments, and are alternately arranged on new growth.

<i>Flindersia collina</i> Species of tree

Flindersia collina, commonly known as broad-leaved leopard tree, leopard ash, bastard crow's ash or leatherwood, is a species of tree in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to north-eastern Australia. It usually has pinnate leaves with between three and seven elliptical to spatula-shaped leaves, panicles of white flowers and fruit studded with rough points.

<i>Cordyline pumilio</i> Species of flowering plant

Cordyline pumilio, commonly known as the dwarf cabbage tree, pygmy cabbage tree or by its Māori names tī koraha or tī rauriki, is a narrow-leaved monocot shrub endemic to New Zealand. It usually grows up to 1 metre tall, although rare examples of 2 metres tall have been reported. It has long leaves and can easily be mistaken for a grass or a sedge. C. pumilio grows in the north of the North Island from North Cape at 34°S to Kawhia and Opotiki at about 38°S, generally under light forest and scrub. It was cultivated by Māori as a source of carbohydrate and used as a relish to sweeten less palatable foods.

<i>Arytera distylis</i> Species of tree

Arytera distylis, known as the two-leaved coogera or twin-leaved coogera is a rainforest tree of eastern Australia. It grows by streams or in sea side rainforests. It occurs from the Orara River in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, extending up to Maryborough in south east Queensland.

<i>Carpodetus serratus</i> Species of tree

Carpodetus serratus is an evergreen tree with small ovate or round, mottled leaves with a toothy margin, and young twigs grow zig-zag, and fragrant white flowers in 5 cm panicles and later black chewy berries. It is an endemic of New Zealand. Its most common name is putaputaweta which means many wētā emerge - referring to the nocturnal Orthoptera that live in holes in the trunk of this tree. Regional variations on the name also refer to this insect that lives and feeds on it such as kaiwētā, and punawētā. The tree is also sometimes called marbleleaf. It is found in broadleaf forest in both North, South and Stewart Islands. It flowers between November and March, and fruits are ripe from January to February.

<i>Harpullia hillii</i> Species of flowering plant

Harpullia hillii, commonly known as blunt-leaved tulip or oblong-leaved tulip, is a tree in the family Sapindaceae, endemic to eastern Australia. Although the species may grow to 20 metres high, most trees are less than 10 metres high. Each leaf comprises 4 to 12 leaflets, that are oblong or elliptic oblong and between 5 and 15 cm long and 2 to 6 cm wide. White flowers with petals 10–12 mm long appear in panicles that are 10–25 cm long. These are followed by orange fruit that are 25–30 mm in diameter and 12–14 mm long. The fruit, which is positioned above the persistent sepals, becomes woody with age. The glossy black seeds protrude from red arils.

<i>Roussea</i> Genus of plants

Roussea simplex is a woody climber of 4–6 m high, that is endemic to the mountain forest of Mauritius. It is the only species of the genus Roussea, which is assigned to the family Rousseaceae. It has opposing, entire, obovate, green leaves, with modest teeth towards the tip and mostly pentamerous, drooping flowers with yellowish recurved tepals, and a purse-shaped orange corolla with strongly recurved narrowly triangular lobes.

<i>Brexia</i> Brexia is a shrub or tree genus assigned to the family [[Celastraceae]] from the East coast of tropical East Africa and Madagascar

Brexia is a plant genus assigned to the Celastraceae. It is a dense evergreen shrub or small tree of usually around 5 m high, with alternately set, simple, leathery leaves with a short leaf stem and lanceolate to inverted egg-shaped leaf blades. The pentamerous flowers occur in cymes. The petals are greenish white, the samens are alternating with wide, incised staminodes. The superior ovary develops in a long ribbed fruit. Brexia naturally grows on the coast of East Africa, on Madagascar, the Comoros and Seychelles. Opinions differ about the number of species in Brexia. Sometimes the genus is regarded monotypic, B. madagascariensis being a species with a large variability, but other authors distinguish as many as twelve species. Common names for B. madagascariensis include jobiapototra, tsimiranjana, tsivavena, vahilava, voalava, voankatanana, voantalanina, voatalanina and votalanina, and mfukufuku (Swahili), mfurugudu and bwa kato (Seychelles).

<i>Hakea oleifolia</i> Species of plant of the family Proteacea endemic to Western Australia

Hakea oleifolia, commonly known as dungyn, or the olive-leaved hakea, is a shrub or tree of the family Proteacea and is endemic to an area along the south coast in the South West and Great Southern regions of Western Australia.

<i>Ilex asprella</i> Species of holly

Ilex asprella, also known as rough-leaved holly and plum-leaved holly, is a deciduous shrub native in South East Asia. Ilex asprella is one of the few deciduous species in the family Aquifoliaceae.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Genus Cuttsia". PlantNET - New South Wales Flora Online. Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Sydney Australia. Retrieved 2008-09-10.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  2. 1 2 "Cuttsia". Toowoomba Plants. Retrieved 2016-04-04.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  3. "Cuttsia viburnea ESCALLONIACEAE". Australasian Pollen and Spore Atlas. Retrieved 2016-04-04.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  4. "Tree Identification - Natives of the Australian East Coast- Part 3, C-D". Australian Tree Images. Retrieved 2016-04-04.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  5. 1 2 Gustavson, M.H.G. (2007), "Carpodetaceae", in Professor Dr. Joachim W. Kadereit; Charles Jeffrey (eds.), Flowering Plants·Eudicots·Asterales, The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants, 8, doi:10.1007/978-3-540-31051-8
  6. "Cuttsia". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government, Canberra. Retrieved 2008-09-11.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  7. 1 2 Lundberg, Johannes (2001). "The Asteralean affinity of the Mauritian Roussea (Rousseaceae)" (PDF). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society . 137: 267–276. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8339.2001.tb01122.x . Retrieved 2016-03-17.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  8. "Cuttsia viburnea: elderberry". Atlas of Living Australia. Retrieved 2016-04-04.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  9. Hawkeswood, T.J. (2006). "Review of the biology and host plants of the Australian buprestid beetle Calodema regale (Gory & Laporte, 1838)(Coleoptera: Buprestidae)" (PDF). Calodema. 7: 5. Retrieved 2016-04-04.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)[ permanent dead link ]