Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Alectryon oleifolius
Common name
Western Rosewood; Bonaree; Cattle Bush
Family
Sapindaceae
Where found
Variety of vegetation comunities. Western Slopes.
Notes
Tree or shrub to 9 m tall. Seeds with fleshy arils. Suckers readily, particularly if the roots are damaged. Bark rough, deeply fissured. Branchlets white, silky. Leaves alternating up the stems, 3-15 cm long, 4-22 mm wide, tips blunt or pointed, with a straight mucro. Flowers cream to green, calyx 1.5–2.5 mm long, cup-shaped with 5-10 broad teeth at the top, and 0 petals. Flowers in clusters of 1-53 or more flowers. Seeds black, with red arils. Flowers and fruits Sep.–Feb.
subsp. canescens: Leaves mostly 5–9 cm long, 4–16 mm wide, greyish, leaf stalks 2–16 mm long. Seed cases, calyx, and leaves usually densely hairy. Stalks of individual flowers 5–14 mm long. Flowers usually in 1–9-flowered clusters. Seed case lobes compressed, hairy.
subsp. elongatus: Leaves mostly 6–15 cm long, 4–10 mm wide, green, leaf stalks 5–15 mm long. Seed cases, calyx, and leaves hairless or hairy with fine hairs. Stalks of individual flowers 1.5–5 mm long. Flowers in 5–53 or more flowered clusters. Seed case lobes globular, hailress.
PlantNET description of species and key to subspecies: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Alectryon~oleifolius (accessed 2 January, 2021)
This identification key and fact sheets are available as a free mobile application:
