Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants - Online edition

Dimocarpus australianus Leenh.


Tree
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Leaves and Flowers. © CSIRO
Flowers. © CSIRO
Scale bar 10mm. © CSIRO
Cotyledon stage, hypogeal germination. © CSIRO
10th leaf stage. © CSIRO
Family

Leenhouts, P.W. (1974) Blumea 21: 377. Type: QUEENSLAND. Cook Distr. C.H. Gittins 2162, 6 miles S. of Helenvale on Shiptons Flat Road, 28-8-1970; holo: BRI; iso: L.

Common name

Native Lychee

Stem

Blaze odour noticeable but difficult to describe. Blaze rather brittle.

Leaves

Leaflet blades about 3-12.5 x 1.5-4 cm, much paler on the underside, often somewhat whitish. Domatia infrequent, occurring as very small inconspicuous foveoles. Small, somewhat streaky oil dots visible with a lens.

Flowers

Calyx as long as the petals, pubescent. Petals about 2.5-3 mm long. Ovary finely stellate hairy, not glandular. Staminal filaments clothed in erect hairs.

Fruit

Fruit about 1.5-1.3 cm, surface +/- smooth or slightly scurfy. Aril covering most of the seed, rather watery, resembling litchi (Litchi chinensis) in taste. Seeds brown.

Seedlings

First pair of leaves compound with two or three leaflets. At the tenth leaf stage: leaflet blades ovate, apex acute or acuminate, +/- glaucous on the underside. Stems glabrous. Seed germination time 9 to 22 days.

Distribution and Ecology

Endemic to Queensland, occurs in CYP and NEQ. Altitudinal range from near sea level to 300 m. Grows in gallery forest and drier, more seasonal rain forest.

RFK Code
754
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