Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants - Online edition

Celtis strychnoides Planch.


Shrub (woody or herbaceous, 1-6 m tall)
Tree
Click/tap on images to enlarge
Flower. © R.L. Barrett
Flower. © R.L. Barrett
Leaves and fruit. © Northern Territory Government
Illustration of leaf variation. © Northern Territory Government
10th leaf stage. © CSIRO
Cotyledon stage, epigeal germination. © CSIRO
Family

Planchon, J.E. (1848) Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Botanique ser. 3, 10 : 306. Type: in Novae-Hollandiae ora borEali-occidentali, ad sinum Careening-Bay; A. Cunningham in herb. Hook.

Stem

Tree to 4-10 m, seldom exceeding 20 cm dbh. Bark hard to cut. Blaze conspicuously speckled, darkening on exposure to purplish brown.

Leaves

Leaf blades ovate or broadly ovate, acute, 6-7 x 1.5-4 cm, young leaves sparsely pubescent, glabrescent except veins and leaf base below; base rounded or cordate; petioles and branchlets pubescent with white erect hairs 0.1-0.3 mm long, petioles 3-6 mm long; juveniles leaves with spinose margins, occasional adult leaves with short marginal spines. Oil dots visible with a lens or just visible to the naked eye. Two main lateral veins arise at the very base of the leaf blade and run almost to the apex.

Flowers

Features not available.

Fruit

Fruits globular or ovoid, about 9-11 mm diam., endocarp smooth.

Seedlings

Seed germination time 25 to 34 days. Cotyledons fleshy, hairy on both the upper and lower surfaces and without venation, apex emarginate, lobes small and rounded. First pair of leaves with serrate margins. At the tenth leaf stage: leaves +/- ovate, apex acute; stipules narrowly triangular.

Distribution and Ecology

Occurs in more inland parts of WA, NT and in the far north western part of NEQ. Altitudinal range from sea level to 300 m. Grows in monsoon forest and drier, more seasonal rain forest.

RFK Code

1282

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