Triflorensia australis (Benth.) S.T.Reynolds

Rubiaceae

Reynolds, S.T. & Forster, P.I. (2005) Austrobaileya 7: 45.

Grows into a small tree but also flowers and fruits as a shrub about 2-4 m tall.

Stipules about 3-4 mm long, interpetiolar, fused at the base and encircling the twig. Leaf blades about 3.5-6.5 x 1.1-2.3 cm, petioles short, about 0.2-0.4 cm long or absent. Leaves and twigs completely. Lateral veins difficult to see, about 6-7, forming loops well inside the blade margin.

Inflorescence not exceeding the leaves. Calyx tube (hypanthium) about 1 mm long, lobes about 0.4 mm long. Corolla tube about 1-2 mm long, lobes about 2-3 mm long. Anthers +/- sessile, about 2 mm long. Style + stigma about 3 mm long, swollen part about 1.5 mm long, stigmatic lobes about 1 mm long.

Fruits globular, about 7 mm diam., calyx remnants persistent at the apex. Seeds about 4 mm long, shaped like a turtle shell or coracle, convex on one side and concave on the other. Testa smooth. Embryo small, about 1.5 mm long, cotyledons ovate, wider than the radicle.

Cotyledons orbicular, elliptic to broadly ovate, about 8-14 x 7-10 mm. First pair of leaves elliptic to obovate. At the tenth leaf stage: leaf blade elliptic to obovate, apex acute, base attenuate. Stipules interpetiolar, triangular, about 3-4 mm long, +/- at right angles to the stem axis. Seed germination time 164 to 256 days.

Endemic to Australia, occurs in NT, CYP and the northern part of NEQ. Altitudinal range from near sea level to 450 m. Grows in monsoon forest and vine thickets.

Tarenna australis (Benth.) Ali & Robbrecht, Blumea 35: 302(1991). Diplospora australis Benth., Flora Australiensis 3: 413(1867), Type: Queensland. Cape York, W. Hill, MGillivray.