Cryptocarya hypospodia, commonly known as northern laurel, white walnut, rib fruited pepperberry or north queensland purple laurel,[2] is species of flowering plant in the laurel family and is native to northern Australia and New Guinea. It is a tree with elliptic to egg-shaped leaves, pale brown and creamy-green flowers, and spherical black drupes.
| Cryptocarya hypospodia | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Magnoliids |
| Order: | Laurales |
| Family: | Lauraceae |
| Genus: | Cryptocarya |
| Species: | C. hypospodia
|
| Binomial name | |
| Cryptocarya hypospodia | |
Description
editCryptocarya hypospodia is a tree that typically grows to a height of up to 30 m (98 ft), its stems usually buttressed and soft hairs on its twigs. Its leaves are elliptic to egg-shaped, 65–245 mm (2.6–9.6 in) long and 25–135 mm (0.98–5.31 in) wide on a petiole 7–17 mm (0.28–0.67 in) long. The flowers are arranged in panicles longer than the leaves and are pale brown, creamy-green, and pleasantly perfumed. The perianth tube is 1.0–1.8 mm (0.039–0.071 in) long, 1.3–1.5 mm (0.051–0.059 in) wide and hairy near the tip. The outer tepals are 1.4–1.9 mm (0.055–0.075 in) long and 0.7–1.1 mm (0.028–0.043 in) wide and the inner tepals are 1.4–1.9 mm (0.055–0.075 in) long and 1.1–1.5 mm (0.043–0.059 in) wide. The outer anthers are 0.6–0.8 mm (0.024–0.031 in) long and 0.5–0.7 mm (0.020–0.028 in) wide, the inner anthers 0.6–0.8 mm (0.024–0.031 in) long and 0.4–0.6 mm (0.016–0.024 in) wide. Flowering occurs from November to May, and the fruit is a spherical black drupe 13–18 mm (0.51–0.71 in) long and 12–17 mm (0.47–0.67 in) wide with creamy cotyledons.[2][3][4]
Taxonomy
editCryptocarya hypospodia was first formally described in 1866 by Ferdinand von Mueller in his Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae from specimens collected near Rockingham Bay.[5][6]
Distribution and habitat
editNorthern laurel grows in rainforest and gallery forest from Cape York Peninsula and south to north-east and central eastern Queensland, on Croker Island in the Northern Territory and in New Guinea.[2][3][4]
Ecology
editThe fruit of C. hypospodia is eaten by cassowaries and fruit-eating birds, and is food for larval stages of butterflies.[3][4]
References
edit- ^ "Cryptocarya hypospodia". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
- ^ a b c Le Cussan, J.; Hyland, Bernard P.M. "Cryptocarya hypospodia". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
- ^ a b c "Cryptocarya hypospodia". Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
- ^ a b c "Cryptocarya hypospodia". Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
- ^ "Cryptocarya hypospodia". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
- ^ von Mueller, Ferdinand (1866). Fragmenta Phytographie Australiae. Melbourne: Victorian Government Printer. p. 170. Retrieved 18 July 2024.