Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants - Online edition

Donella lanceolata (Blume) Aubrév.


Tree
Click/tap on images to enlarge
Fruit, two views and cross section. © W. T. Cooper
Scale bar 10mm. © CSIRO
10th leaf stage. © CSIRO
Cotyledon stage, epigeal germination. © CSIRO
Family

Aubréville, A. (1963) Flore du Cambodge, du Laos et du Vietnam 3: 64

 

Common name

Apple, Star; Star Apple

Stem

Exudate slow and meagre. White, granular stripes in the outer blaze. Pale brown or orange, brittle stripes present in the inner blaze.

Leaves

Petioles and twigs produce a small amount of milky exudate. Leaf blades about 4.5-10.5 x 1.5-3.5 cm. Intramarginal vein close to the edge of the leaf blade, sometimes difficult to see. Terminal buds, young leafy twigs and petioles densely clothed in rusty brown hairs.

Flowers

Inflorescence fasciculate, very short, much shorter than the leaves and often about the same length as the petioles. Flowers not opening widely. Calyx about 2 mm long, Petals about 2.5 mm long. Ovary clothed in white hairs.

Fruit

Fruits globular, often quite large, about 5-6 x 5-6 cm. Testa thick, hard and woody. Cotyledons thin and flat.

Seedlings

Cotyledons large, 30-47 x 25-31 mm, slightly unequal-sided. A number of veins and the midrib radiate from the base of each cotyledon. First pair of leaves narrowly elliptical to narrowly obovate, apex acute to acuminate, base cuneate to attenuate. Midrib raised on the upper surface. Lateral veins numerous (more than 25) on each side of the midrib. Lateral vein angle about 80. At the tenth leaf stage: leaf blade oblong-obovate, apex acuminate, base cuneate; both surfaces of new leaf densely hairy, hairs medifixed; hairs on new growth and stem not coloured; only a few hairs remaining on both the upper and lower surfaces of older leaves; intramarginal vein very close to the leaf margin, lateral veins about 20 on each side of the midrib; petiole densely hairy. Seed germination time 26 to 56 days.

Distribution and Ecology

Occurs in CYP and NEQ, known from Moa Island, the Claudie River, McIlwraith Range and the Isabella Falls areas. Altitudinal range from near sea level to 450 m. Grows in gallery forest and other well developed rain forests. Also occurs in Asia, Malesia and the Solomon Islands.

Synonyms
Nyctererisiton lanceolatum Blume, Bijdragen tot de flora van Nederlandsch Indie 12: 676 (1826), Type: Java, Blume 775 ; holo: L. Chrysophyllum lanceolatum (Blume) DC., Prodromus systematis naturalis regni vegetabilis 8: 162(1844). Chrysophyllum roxburghii G.DonA General History of Dichlamydeous Plants 4(1): 33 (1837), Type: Tropical Asia.
RFK Code
640
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