Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants - Online edition

Irvingbaileya australis (C.T.White) R.A.Howard


Shrub (woody or herbaceous, 1-6 m tall)
Tree
Click/tap on images to enlarge
Flower opening up. © Barry Jago
Flowers [not vouchered]. © T. Hawkes
Flowers [not vouchered]. © T. Hawkes
Fruit, immature. © Barry Jago
Fruit and appendage, four views. © W. T. Cooper
Cotyledon stage, epigeal germination. © CSIRO
10th leaf stage. © CSIRO
Scale bar 10mm. © CSIRO
Family

Howard, R.A. (1943) Brittonia 5: 50. Type: ?.

Common name

Beech, Buff; Buff Beach; Irvingbaileya; Wax Berry

Stem

Oak grain in the wood and a similar pattern in the inner blaze. White granular stripes in the outer blaze.

Leaves

Fine oak grain in the twigs. Leaf blades about 9-15 x 3-5 cm. Midrib depressed on the upper surface. Petiole grooved on the upper surface. Fallen leaves on the forest floor turn dull black.

Flowers

Petals about 4-5 mm long. Staminal filaments clothed in erect white hairs. Ovary with a large lateral cream glandular appendage.

Fruit

Fruits consist of a green carpel about 21-25 x 18-22 mm and a waxy, white, succulent, ovoid appendage about 28-35 x 16-20 mm.

Seedlings

Cotyledons ovate, about 30 mm long. At the tenth leaf stage: leaf blade elliptic to obovate, glabrous on the upper surface, midrib depressed or grooved on the upper surface; petiole hairy. Seed germination time 372 to 473 days.

Distribution and Ecology

Endemic to NEQ. Altitudinal range from near sea level to 1200 m, most collections coming from the Atherton Tableland. Grows in well developed rain forest on a variety of sites.

Natural History & Notes

Fallen fruit eaten by Cassowaries. Satin Bowerbirds sometimes use the fruit (white side up) as bower decorations. Cooper & Cooper (1994).

Synonyms
Medusanthera australis (C.T.White) R.A.Howard, Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 21: 469(1940). Tylecarpus australis C.T.White, Queensland Department of Agriculture and Stock. Botany Bulletin 20: 12(1918), Type: Johnstone River, Dr. T.L. Bancroft, Rev. N. Michael, H.G. Ladbrook.
RFK Code
47
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