Pendressia wardellii (F.Muell.) Whiffin

Ford, A. & Whiffin, T. (2018) Telopea 21: 147-151.

Oak grain in the wood and a corresponding pattern in the inner blaze.

Leaf blades about 5.5-10 x 2.2-5 cm. Lateral veins inconspicuous on both surfaces but forming loops well inside the blade margin. Midrib raised on the upper surface; marginal teeth small and inconspicuous. Small oil dots visible with a lens. Petioles and young twigs reddish. Oak grain in the twigs.

Inflorescence about 4-10 cm long, approximating but usually not exceeding the leaves. Tepals small and inconspicuous, about 0.2-0.3 mm long. Receptacle glabrous on the outer surface. Anthers about 0.5-0.7 mm long, each, opening by a curved slit, filaments very short. Anthers scattered over the inner surface of the receptacle. Female flowers operculate. Carpels about ten, about 1 mm long, glabrous.

Receptacle yellow, scarcely swollen, glabrous. Fruiting carpels stipitate, ellipsoid, about 13-15 x 10 mm. Seed about 9-10 x 7-8 mm. Embryo about 5 mm long. Cotyledons slightly wider than the radicle.

At the tenth leaf stage: leaf blade ovate or elongate-ovate, apex apiculate, base cuneate, margin serrate, with teeth all around the blade margin, glabrous; petiole channelled on the upper surface; petiole and stem glabrous. Seed germination time 95 to 328 days.

Probably endemic to NEQ. Altitudinal range from 800-1250 m. Grows as an understory tree in mountain rain forest on the Windsor Tableland, Mt Spurgeon-Mt Lewis and Atherton Tableland areas, usually on soils derived from granite.

Endressia wardellii (F.Muell.) Whiffin, Flora of Australia 2: 454 (2007), nom. illeg. Wilkiea wardellii (F.Muell.) Perkins, Botanische Jahrbucher 25: 570 (1898). Mollinedia wardellii F.Muell., Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae 5: 155(1866), Type: Qld, Coast Range, 17 Nov. 1865, J. Dallachy; Lecto MEL 2050659. Fide T. Whiffin & D. Foreman (2007). Wardellia paniculata F. Muell., Fragmenta 5: 155(1866). Wilkiea sp. (= RFK/3350), Australian Tropical Rain Forest Trees : (1993). Wilkiea paniculata Whiffin, Flora of Australia 2: 88 (2007), nom. illeg.