Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Alphitonia excelsa

Flowers. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Hunter Region Botanic Gardens, near Newcastle

Flowering stems. Photographer Don Wood, near Central Tilba 

Fruit, leaves, and stem. Photographer Jackie Miles, Milton

Common name

Red ash, Soapbush

Family

Rhamnaceae

Where found

Rainforest margins, disturbed rainforest, remnant forest on roadsides, open forest, shrubland, sheltered gullies, and steep slopes. Coast and ranges north of Bermagui.

Notes

Tree to 35 m tall. Bark becoming tessellated and deeply fissured in older trees. Stems grey to golden-brown hairy. Leaves alternating up the stems, 3–14 cm long, 18-60 mm wide, dark green, glossy above, densely white-hairy below with the veins raised and brownish green. Flowers white or cream to greenish, with 5 petals  each 1-2 mm long, and 5 coloured sepals, the sepals each 1-2 mm long, more obvious than the narrow petals. Flowers in branched clusters. Flowers Summer to Autumn. Fruit dry, at first semi-fleshy, dull black, the black outer layer drying out to reveal a reddish powdery layer. Seeds brown, covered with an orange-reddish membranous aril.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Alphitonia~excelsa (accessed 2 January, 2021)