Elaeocarpus ruminatus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Oxalidales
Family: Elaeocarpaceae
Genus: Elaeocarpus
Species:
E. ruminatus
Binomial name
Elaeocarpus ruminatus

Elaeocarpus ruminatus, commonly known as brown quandong, caloon or grey quandong, is a species of flowering plant in the family Elaeocarpaceae and is endemic to Queensland. It is a tree with buttress roots at the base of the trunk, mostly more or less elliptic leaves, cream-coloured flowers with five petals that sometimes have a divided tip, and more or less spherical fruit.

Description

Elaeocarpus ruminatus is a tree that typically grows to a height of 20–40 m (66–131 ft) and has buttress roots at the base of the trunk. The leaves are more or less clustered near the ends of the branchlets, mostly more or less elliptic, 50–120 mm (2.0–4.7 in) long and 25–45 mm (0.98–1.77 in) wide on a petiole 20–45 mm (0.79–1.77 in) long. The flowers are borne in groups of up to twenty-five on a thin rachis 30–100 mm (1.2–3.9 in) long, each flower on a pedicel 3–6 mm (0.12–0.24 in) long. The flowers are cream-coloured and have five narrow egg-shaped sepals 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) long and 1.5–2 mm (0.059–0.079 in) wide. The five petals are egg-shaped, the same length as, or shorter than the sepals, 4.5–5 mm (0.18–0.20 in) long and 1.5–2 mm (0.059–0.079 in) wide, the tip sometimes with one or two narrow triangular lobes. There are sixteen to twenty-two stamens and the ovary is covered with short, felted hairs. Flowering mainly occurs from November to February and the fruit is a more or less spherical drupe about 12 mm (0.47 in) in diameter.[2][3]

Taxonomy

Elaeocarpus ruminatus was first formally described in 1872 by Ferdinand von Mueller in Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae from material collected by John Dallachy near Rockingham Bay.[4][5]

Distribution and habitat

Elaeocarpus ruminatus is widespread in rainforest at altitudes between 600 and 1,100 m (2,000 and 3,600 ft) in north-eastern and central-eastern Queensland.[3]

Conservation status

Brown quandong is listed as of "least concern" under the Queensland Government Nature Conservation Act 1992.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Elaeocarpus ruminatus". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  2. ↑ Hyland, Bernard; Coode, Mark J. (1984). "Elaeocarpus in Australia and New Zealand". Kew Bulletin. 39 (3): 565–568.
  3. 1 2 F.A.Zich; B.P.M.Hyland; T.Whiffen; R.A.Kerrigan (2020). "Elaeocarpus ruminatus". Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants Edition 8 (RFK8). Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (CANBR), Australian Government. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  4. ↑ "Elaeocarpus ruminatus". APNI. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  5. ↑ von Mueller, Ferdinand (1872). Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae. Vol. 8. Melbourne: Victorian Government Printer. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  6. ↑ "Species profile —Elaeocarpus ruminatus". Queensland Government Department of Environment and Science. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
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