Hodgkinsonia ovatiflora F.Muell.

Mueller, F.J.H. von (1861), Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae 2(15): 132. Type: "In locis silvaticis ad flumen Brisbane; Hill & Mueller. In nemoribus ad flumen Hastings; Beckler."

Golden Ash

Small tree to 25 m. Young stems hairy, becoming hairless. Lenticels craterous.

Leaves simple, opposite. Stipules 2, interpetiolar, 2-4 mm long, triangular. Petiole 3-10 mm long. Leaf blade elliptic or ovate, rarely obovate, 3.5-10 cm long, 1-4 cm wide; base obtuse or cuneate, margin entire, apex acute to acuminate. Leaves glabrous above, lower surface with sparse appressed hairs along midrib and leaf margin or glabrous. Lateral veins 6-8 pair, venation reticulate with minor veins anastomosing to form a distinct ploughed-field pattern. Domatia present as hairy tufts in axils of midrib on lower surface and occasionally present as less defined tufts in the axils of secondary and tertiary vein axils towards margins.

Inflorescence axillary, of 1-3 many flowered umbels. Inflorescence peduncules up to 3 cm long, flowers sessile to subsessile. Flowers unisexual, plant dioecious, 4 (-5) merous, actinomorphic, white to cream. Male flowers:10-20-flowers/umbel, calyx lobes connate at base, tube and lobes c. 0.5 mm long; corolla urceolate, tube 4 mm long and lobes c. 0.5 mm long, glabrous on the outer surface, inner surface with clavate hairs; stamens 4, anthers up to 2 mm long; ovary rudimentary. Female flowers: usually with 3-6-flowers/umbel, calyx lobes connate at base, tube and lobes c. 0.5 mm long; corolla globose to urceolate, with tube c. 3 mm long and lobes c. 0.5-1 mm long; staminodes small; style and stigma about 3 mm long, stigmatic lobes 3; ovary inferior; locules 2-4.

Fruit fleshy, a drupe, ellipsoid to obovoid, 5-7 mm long, 4 mm diam., calyx tube persistent at apex, black. Stone solitary with 2-4 seeds in a thick woody endocarp. Micropylar end of seed enclosed with a hardened white/cream cap.

Features not available.

Occurs in CEQ, from Mackay southwards to Port Macquarie in New South Wales. Grows in subtropical, dry and littoral rainforest communities.

This profile information and associated coding has been adapated from Cooper & Cooper (2004) and Harden et al. (2014).