Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants - Online edition

Alloxylon wickhamii (W.Hill & F.Muell.) P.H.Weston & Crisp


Tree
Click/tap on images to enlarge
Flowers. © G. Sankowsky
Leaves and flowers. © G. Sankowsky
Scale bar 10mm. © CSIRO
Cotyledon stage, epigeal germination. © CSIRO
10th leaf stage. © CSIRO
Family

Weston, P.H. & Crisp. M.D. (1991) Telopea 4(3): 502.

Common name

Oak, Pink Silky; Oak, Satin Silky; Satin Oak; Tree Waratah; Satin Silky Oak; Pink Silky Oak; Oak, Satin

Stem

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

Leaves

Leaf blades about 5-17 x 1-3.5 cm. Lateral veins generally depressed on the upper surface and forming loops well inside the blade margin. Oak grain in the twigs.

Flowers

Pedicels paired, very long, more than half the length of the perianth, common peduncle absent. Pedicels and the outer surface of the tepals glabrous, flower bracts linear, about 5 mm long. Tepals pink-red, about 20-30 mm long. Hypogynous glands absent. Ovary on a long stalk. Ovules about 8-10.

Fruit

Fruit +/- spindle-shaped, about 5.5-12 cm long. Seed winged at one end, seed + wing about 4-7 cm long, wing about 2.5-5 x 1.5 cm.

Seedlings

Cotyledons broadly obovate, about 12 x 12 mm. First pair of leaves with entire margins. Third and fourth leaves with entire margins. At the tenth leaf stage: leaf blade +/- linear, apex obtuse or rounded, base attenuate, glabrous, lateral veins forming definite loops inside the blade margin; terminal bud clothed in rusty red hairs. Seed germination time 11 days.

Distribution and Ecology

Endemic to NEQ. Altitudinal range from 100-1250 m. Grows in well developed rain forest on a variety of sites but is probably more abundant in upland and mountain rain forests.

Natural History & Notes

Not as well known as Alloxylon flammeum but deserves an equal place in horticulture and will grow on a wide range of soil types.

Produces a beautiful soft, silky textured timber with a conspicuous oak grain.

Wood specific gravity 0.53 Cause et al. (1989).

Synonyms
Oreocallis wickhamii (F.Muell.) Sleumer, Botanische Jahrbucher 76: 203(1954). Oreocallis wickhamii W.Hill, Report on the Brisbane Botanic Garden : 6(1874), Type: This superb flowering tree was found at an elevation of 2,500 feet, on Bellenden-Ker Range. Embothrium wickhamii F.Muell., Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae 8: 164(1874), Type: In monte Bellenden-Kerii, altitudine circiter 2500 pedum, ubi Heliciae Youngianae adsociatum; Walt. Hill.
RFK Code
87
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