Steganthera macooraia (F.M.Bailey) P.K.Endress

Monimiaceae

Endress, P.K. (1979) Blumea 25(1/2): 315.

Beech Sassafras

Seldom exceeding 30 cm dbh. Oak grain in the wood and a corresponding pattern in the inner blaze.

Oak grain in the twigs. Leaf blades about 4-10 x 1.8-4.5 cm. Lateral veins forming loops well inside the blade margin. Leaf blade much paler on the underside. Oil dots visible with a lens.

Inflorescence much shorter than the leaves. Flowers about 3 mm diam. Perianth lobes minute. Receptacle hairy on the inner surface. Stamens included in the perianth tube, filaments short. Female flowers operculate. Carpels variable in number, about 10-24.

Receptacle yellowish-green. Fruiting carpels ovoid, glabrous, about 15-18 x 8-9 mm. Seeds about 13 x 7-8 mm. Embryo small, about 5-6 mm long, cotyledons wider than the radicle.

Cotyledons ovate or lanceolate, 25-34 x 10-19 mm, apex apiculate, base rounded or truncate. At the tenth leaf stage: leaf blade elliptic to obovate, apex acute, acuminate to apiculate, base cuneate to attenuate, margin with teeth concentrated in the apical half, 1-5 teeth on either side, glabrous; petiole grooved on the upper surface. Midrib raised on the upper surface. Seed germination time 49 to 120 days.

Endemic to NEQ. Altitudinal range from 650-1500 m. Grows as an understory tree in upland and mountain rain forest, often found in stunted windswept rain forest on the highest mountain ridges.

Wilkiea macooraia (Bailey) Perkins, Das Pflanzenreich Heft 49 : 26(1911). Mollinedia macooraia F.M.Bailey, Queensland Department of Agriculture and Stock. Botany Bulletin 5: 23(1892), Type: Bellenden-Ker Range up to the summit of the South Peak, 5,000 ft. [ s.n., Bellenden Ker Exp. 1889. fide A.K.Endress (1979); H