Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Ceratopetalum apetalum

Flowers and leaves. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra, ACT

Coloured sepals and leaves. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Royal Botanic Gardens Mt Annan, near Campbelltown

Trunks. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Minnamurra Reserve west of Kiama

Tree. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Dorrigo National Park

Common name

Coachwood

Family

Cunoniaceae

Where found

Rainforest and gullies. Coast and ranges north from Batemans Bay, rarely farther south.

Notes

Tree to 25 m high. Bark smooth, whitish, blotched with grey and white lichens and with distinctive horizontal lines encircling the trunk, becoming dark, rough, and scaly. Stems hairless. Leaves simple, rarely 3-lobed, opposite each other, 6–17 cm long, 20–50 mm wide, leathery, green, hairless, lower surface paler, margins finely toothed, tips pointed. Flowers with 0 petals and 4-5 white petal-like sepals each about 3 mm long, enlarging to 8-9 mm long and pink to reddish at the seeding stage. Flowers in clusters to 12 cm long, 5-8 cm diameter. Flowering: spring to summer.

PlantNET description:   http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Ceratopetalum~apetalum 
(accessed 7 January, 2021)