Tetrameles nudiflora R.Br.

Brown, R. (1844) Plantae Javanicae Rariores : 79. Type: Java, Herb. Horsf.; holo: BM. Fide Stanley (1982).

Kajoolaboo; Binong; Gangganan; Tetrameles

Bark often shiny brown. Yellow speckles generally visible in the blaze. Blaze darkens on exposure. Deciduous; leafless for a period between October and December.

Leaf blades cordate, about 11-17 x 8.5-12 cm. Midrib, and four major and two minor lateral veins radiate from the point of attachment of the petiole. Twig cambium turns purple on exposure. Hairs on the underside of the leaf blade are simple (not stellate) when viewed with a lens.

Inflorescence about 8-20 cm long, usually produced when the tree is leafless. Male flowers pedicellate, pedicel to 1 mm long. Perianth about 1.5-3.5 mm long, deeply 4-lobed on male flowers. Staminal filaments about 0.5-3.5 mm long. Styles about 1-2.5 mm long. Female flowers sessile.

Fruits maturing while the tree is leafless or only partly clothed in new leaves. Capsules globular-urceolate, about 4-5 mm long, calyx lobes persisting at the apex, styles often persistent. Seeds small, +/- winged at each end, seed + wing about 1-1.5 x 0.3-0.4 mm.

Cotyledons orbicular to ovate, about 1-2 mm long, hairy on the upper surface. At the tenth leaf stage: leaf blade ovate to cordate, apex acute to acuminate, base cordate, margin irregularly lobed and serrate, hairy on the upper surface; petiole, stem and terminal bud hairy. Seed germination time 28 days.

Widespread in CYP. Altitudinal range from near sea level to about 500 m. Grows in monsoon forest and drier rain forest but also found in well developed gallery forest on creek and river flats. Also occurs in Asia and Malesia.

This species grows as a large tree, particularly in the gallery forests of Cape York Peninsula. Large trees are frequently hollow or have hollow branches and these are often the nesting sites for Eclectus Parrots.