Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Notelaea longifolia
Common name
Large Mock-olive, Large-leaved Olive, Long-leaved Native Olive
Family
Oleaceae
Where found
Forest and stream banks. Coast, ranges, and the eastern edge of the tablelands.
f. glabra: North from the Sydney area.
f. intermedia: North from the Nowra district.
f. longifolia: North from the Eden district. Mainly north from the Moruya district.
Notes
Tree or shrub to about 9 m high. Fruit fleshy. Bark grey to greyish brown, hard, fissured and scaly in larger trees. Branchlets grey or brown, usually with conspicuous white lenticels, sparsely hairy, soon becoming hairless. Buds at the bases of the leaves 2–4, pointed, hairless or hairy. Leaves opposite each other, 3.5–16 cm long, 10–56 mm wide, variable in size and shape, tips pointed or sometimes blunt, upper surface dark green, lower surface pale, texture stiff, veins on the upper surface conspicuous. Flowers with 4 cream to green or pale yellow petals 1.5–2.5 mm long, more or less free from each other except joined in 2 pairs at the base. Flower clusters 5–13-flowered. Flowering: April–October. Fruit bluish black when ripe, only a little longer than broad, 10–16 mm long.
f. glabra: Leaves, stems, and the buds at the bases of the leaves hairless, rarely with hairs.
f. intermedia: Leaves, stems, and the buds at the bases of the leaves sparsely to moderately hairy.
f. longifolia: Leaves (especially on lower surface), young stems, leaf stalks, the buds at the bases of the leaves, and the common stalks of the flower clusters densely hairy.
PlantNET description of species and key to formas: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Notelaea~longifolia (accessed 23 January, 2021)
This identification key and fact sheets are available as a free mobile application:
