Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

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Rhodamnia rubescens

Common name

Scrub turpentine, Brown malletwood

Family

Myrtaceae

Where found

Forest, rainforest margins, and moist gullies. Coast and ranges north from Batemans Bay. Eastern part of the tablelands north from Lithgow.

Notes

Shrub or tree to 25 m tall. Fruit fleshy. Trunks sometimes moderatately buttressed or fluted. Bark fissured and scaly, reddish-brown. Young stems densely hairy, becoming hairless. Leaves aromatic when rubbed, opposite each other, 5-11 cm long, 20-50 mm wide, tips pointed, upper surface green and sparsely hairy, lower surface paler and sparsely to densely hairy with erect hairs; strongly 3-veined from the base, oil glands distinct, moderately dense. Flowers with 4 white petals each 4-5 mm long. Flowers in clusters of 1-3 flowers or more, at the base of paired leaves. Fruit red turning black, crowned by the persisten sepals, roundish, 5-8 mm in diameter. Flowers Winter to Spring.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Rhodamnia~rubescens (accessed 4 February, 2021)