Glochidion harveyanum var. pubescens Airy Shaw

Airy Shaw, H.K. (1976) Kew Bulletin 31: 347. Type: Queensland, Davies Creek, lat. 17 00 S., long. 145 35 E., gallery forest, alt. 420 m, 5 Oct. 1974, Hyland 7722; holo: K; iso: QRS.

Buttonwood

Usually grows into a small tree but also flowers and fruits as a shrub.

Leaves borne on short shoots resembling compound leaves. Leaf blades about 8-13 x 3.5-6.5 cm, petioles about 0.3-0.8 cm long. Lateral veins about 6-12 on each side of the midrib. Both the upper and lower surfaces of the leaf blade clothed in pale, mainly erect, multicellular hairs. Stipules triangular, up to 3-4 mm long, drawn out into a fine point at the apex. Twigs and terminal buds hairy.

Male flowers: Flowers faintly but pleasantly perfumed, about 4-6 mm diam., pedicels about 10 mm long. Outer perianth segments about 3.5 x 2.5 mm, inner segments about 3 x 2 mm. Anther filaments very short. Anthers about 1 x 0.5 mm. Female flowers: Flowers usually solitary, about 2.5 mm diam., pedicels short and thick. Outer perianth segments about 2 x 1.5 mm, inner segments about 2.2 x 1 mm. Ovary glabrous, usually about 10-locular. Styles about 9 or 10 mostly free from one another.

Fruits depressed, ribbed like a pumpkin (Cucurbita spp.) and about 14-15 mm diam., clothed in short, erect, pale-coloured hairs. Perianth segments persistent at the base. Seeds about 4.5-5.5 x 3.5-6 mm. Aril scarlet, completely enclosing the seed. Each seed curved around a central placenta-like structure. Embryo white to cream, cotyledons straight to slightly curved, about 3 x 3 mm, longer and wider than the radicle (1 mm long).

Cotyledons elliptic to ovate, about 12 x 8 mm, petioles about 1 mm long. First pair of leaves obovate, glabrous, midrib raised on the upper surface. Stipules hairy, about 2 mm long. At the tenth leaf stage: leaf blade obovate, apex apiculate, base attenuate, petiole hairy, about 2 mm long. Stipules hairy, about 3-4 mm long. Both the upper and lower surfaces of the leaf blade clothed in pale hairs. Seed germination time 82 days.

Endemic to NEQ, known only from collections made in the Davies Creek and Kirrama areas. Altitudinal range not known but collections have been made at 400 m. May grow in association with Kauri Pine (Agathis robusta).