Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants - Online edition

Polyalthia submontana (Jessup) B.Xue & R.M.K.Saunders subsp. submontana


Shrub (woody or herbaceous, 1-6 m tall)
Tree
Family

Xue, B., Su, Y.C.F., Thomas, D.C. & Saunders, R.M.K. (2012) Taxon 61(5): 1035. 

Stem

Seldom exceeding 30 cm dbh. Subrhytidome layer almost black. Oak grain in the wood and a corresponding pattern in the inner blaze.

Leaves

Oak grain in the twigs. Leaf blades about 3.5-19 x 0.9-6 cm. Petiole 1-3.5 mm long. Lateral veins forming loops inside the blade margin. Oil dots visible with a lens. Twig bark strong and fibrous when stripped. Young twigs and terminal buds appressed hairy, glabrescent.

Flowers

Flowers solitary, axillary, sessile or with stout pedicels 1.5 mm wide; bracts broadly ovate; sepals very broadly ovate, 2.5-3 mm long. Petals white-cream, crimson inside near base. Stamens 35-70, 1.5 mm long.

Fruit

Fruit ellipsoidal, 12-16 mm long, black, stipe 1-5 mm long. Seeds 1 or 2.

Seedlings

Features not available.

Distribution and Ecology

Endemic to NEQ, occurs as scattered populations at Big Tableland, Mt Finnigan, Cedar Bay and from Daintree to Mossman Gorge. Altitudinal range from 40-1000 m. Grows as an understory shrub or small tree in well developed rain forest, more common on soils derived from metamorphic rocks.

Synonyms

Polyalthia submontana (Jessup) B.Xue & R.M.K.Saunders, Xue, B., Su, Y.C.F., Thomas, D.C. & Saunders, R.M.K. (2012), Taxon 61(5): 1035.  Haplostichanthus submontanus Jessup subsp. submontanus, Flora of Australia 2: 449 (2007).  Haplostichanthus submontanus Jessup, Flora of Australia 2: 449. Type: Catchment of Gap Creek NE of Mt Finnigan, Qld, 30 Nov. 1984, L.W.Jessup 632; holo: BRI.

RFK Code
3568
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