Wilkiea rigidifolia (A.C.Sm.) Whiffin & Foreman

Monimiaceae

Whiffin, T & Foreman, D. (2007) Flora of Australia 2: 451.

Oak grain in the wood and a corresponding pattern in the inner blaze.

Leaf blades usually quite large, about 13-20 x 6-9 cm, thick and leathery in texture; apex variable, sometimes ending in a point projecting from the midrib. Lateral veins forming loops inside the blade margin; marginal teeth, if present, quite stiff and sharp. Small oil dots visible with a lens. Oak grain in the twigs.

Flowers about 3 mm diam. with an ostiole at the slightly domed or flattened apex. Flowers with thickened glands around the inner surface of the ostiole. Female flowers +/- operculate. Carpels glabrous, stigmas +/- sessile.

Receptacle orange, somewhat fleshy, about 10-15 mm wide. Fruiting carpels globular, about 14 x 12 mm. Seed about 12 x 11 mm. Embryo about 5-6 mm long.

Cotyledons broadly ovate or oblong, conspicuously 3-veined. At the tenth leaf stage: leaf blade elliptic or elongate-elliptic, apex acute or acuminate, base cuneate or attenuate, margin serrate, teeth with a sharp apical point, 8-12 each side of the leaf blade, glabrous. Seed germination time 46 to 73 days.

Occurs in CYP and NEQ. Altitudinal range from sea level to 300 m. Grows as an understory tree in monsoon forest and drier, more seasonal rain forest. Also occurs in New Guinea.

Kibara rigidifolia A.C.Smith, Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 22: 243(1941), Type: New Guinea, Lower Fly River, Sturt Island, Oct 1936, L. J. Brass 8216; iso: BRI. Wilkiea sp. (Somerset L.J. Webb+ 11845), Queensland Plants : 120(1997). Wilkiea sp. (Somerset L.J. Webb+ 11845), Queensland Vascular Plants Names & Distribution : 193(1993).