Hylandia dockrillii Airy Shaw

Airy Shaw, H.K. (1974) Kew Bulletin 29: 329. Type: Queensland, State Forest Reserve 756, Maple L. A.; holo: K, iso: QRS.

Blushwood

Bark dark brown. Branches supple but tough and difficult to break.

Leaf blades about 8-20 x 3.5-9.5 cm. Midrib and main lateral veins raised on the upper surface of the leaf blade. One or two raised glands may be present on the upper surface at the junction of the leaf blade and petiole. Freshly cut twigs may produce a sticky exudate. Pith of older twigs generally red.

Calyx and corolla ferruginous-pubescent on the outer surface. Calyx about 7-8 mm long. Corolla about 10-12 mm long. Disk consists of five globular glands. Ovary densely hairy. Stigmas +/- foliaceous.

Fruits clothed in ferruginous hairs until maturity, depressed globular, laterally compressed, +/- 2-lobed and longitudinally ribbed, about 20-30 x 35-45 mm. Seeds +/- globular, about 12-15 mm diam. Testa hard and horny, about 1-1.5 mm thick.

At the first pair of leaves or before the first pair of leaves develop, stem swollen, slightly bottle-shaped at and below ground level. At the tenth leaf stage: leaf blade obovate, apex acuminate, base cuneate, upper surface glabrous, midrib and lateral veins raised on the upper surface of the leaf blade; two glands present on the upper surface of the leaf blade at its junction with the petiole; petiole hairy towards the apex; stipules caducous, small, triangular, hairy. Seed germination time 19 to 905 days.

Endemic to NEQ. Altitudinal range from 400-1100 m. Grows in well developed rain forest on a variety of sites.

Seeds eaten by native rats. Cooper & Cooper (1994).

Produces compounds active against cancers cells.

Produces a useful general purpose timber.

Wood specific gravity 0.56. Cause et al. (1989).