Ackama australiensis (Schltr.) C.T.White

Cunoniaceae

White, C.T. (1936) Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland 47: 59.

Cedara; Pencil Cedar; Rose Alder; Feather Top; Cedar, Atherton Pencil; Atherton Pencil Cedar; Alder, Rose; Cedar, Pencil; Feathertop Tree

Lenticels arranged in vertical lines. Buttresses large and conspicuous on bigger trees.

Leaflet blades about 5.5-10 x 2-3.5 cm. Domatia are tufts of hairs. Stipules round or bluntly pointed at the apex.

Flowers about 1.5 mm diam. Sepals much wider than the very narrow petals. Disk consisting of a ring of white glands between the stamens and the base of the ovary.

Fruit +/- globose, about 2 mm diam. Seeds clothed in relatively long twisted pale coloured hairs. Cotyledons green.

Seed germination time 24 to 146 days. Cotyledons very small, about 1-2 mm long. At the tenth leaf stage: leaflet margins serrate or doubly serrate, that is teeth with teeth; leaflets hairy on the upper surface; stipules interpetiolar, foliaceous with toothed margins; seedlings often pink to red.

Endemic to Queensland, occurs in the McIlwraith Range in CYP, is widespread in NEQ, and occurs in the northern part of CEQ. Altitudinal range from 400-1150 m. Grows in well developed upland and mountain rain forest, usually along creeks and gullies.

Produces a useful general purpose timber and utility cabinet timber. Wood specific gravity 0.57. Cause et al. (1989).

Betchea australiensis Schltr., Bot. Jahrb. 52: 150 (1914), Type: Queensland, Rockingham Bay, J. Dallachy, holo: B. Caldcluvia australiensis (Schltr.) Hoogland, (1979) Blumea 25: 484 (1979). Ackama muelleri var. pleiocarpa F.Muell., The Victorian Naturalist 8: 46(1891), Type: The same collector brought from the same region.. [= Stephen Johnson, Mt. Bartle-Frere]. Ackama quadrivalvis C.T.White & W.D.Francis, Queensland Department of Agriculture and Stock. Botany Bulletin 22: 15(1920), Type: Atherton District, Assistant Forester J.M. Fraser (type).