Pennantia cunninghamii, known as brown beech,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Pennantiaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a tree with a fluted trunk, elliptic or oblong leaves and white, either bisexual or male flowers.
| Pennantia cunninghamii | |
|---|---|
| |
| In the Allyn Range | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Apiales |
| Family: | Pennantiaceae |
| Genus: | Pennantia |
| Species: | P. cunninghamii
|
| Binomial name | |
| Pennantia cunninghamii | |
Description edit
Pennantia cunninghamii is a tree that typically grows to a height of up to 30 m (98 ft) and has an irregularly fluted trunk with dark grey to brown, often scaly bark and a flanged base. The leaves are elliptic or oblong, 70–180 mm (2.8–7.1 in) long and 40–80 mm (1.6–3.1 in) wide on a petiole 10–20 mm (0.39–0.79 in) long and arranged along zig-zagging branchlets. Both sides of the leaves are glossy with prominent domatia on the veins. The flowers are bisexual or male, arranged in panicles on the ends of branches or in upper leaf axils, the sepals insignificant, the petals glabrous, 3–4 mm (0.12–0.16 in) long and 1.0–1.5 mm (0.039–0.059 in) wide. Flowering occurs from November to January and the fruit is a fleshy black drupe 10–15 mm (0.39–0.59 in) long and 7–9 mm (0.28–0.35 in) wide containing a single seed.[2][3][4][5]
Taxonomy edit
Pennantia cunninghamii was first formally described in 1852 by John Miers in The Annals and Magazine of Natural History from specimens collected by Allan Cunningham in the Illawarra region.[6][7] The specific epithet honours Cunningham.[4]
Distribution and habitat edit
Brown beech grows in rainforest from Clyde Mountain near Batemans Bay (35° S) in southern New South Wales to Atherton (17° S) in tropical Queensland.[4][5]
Ecology edit
The fruit of P. cunninghamii is eaten by grey-headed flying fox and a variety of bird species including brown cuckoo dove, green catbird, topknot pigeon, wompoo fruit-dove and white-headed pigeon. The larva of the moth Cardamyla carinentalis pupates between leaves of this species.[3]
References edit
- ^ "Pennantia cunninghamii". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
- ^ a b Harden, Gwen J. "Pennantia cunninghamii". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
- ^ a b Benson, Doug; McDougall, Lyn (1997). "Ecology of Sydney Plant Species, Part 5". Cunninghamia. 5 (2): 406. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
- ^ a b c Floyd, Alex G. (1989). Rainforest trees of mainland South-eastern Australia. Melbourne: Inkata Press. p. 166. ISBN 0909605572.
- ^ a b F.A.Zich; B.P.M.Hyland; T.Whiffen; R.A.Kerrigan (2020). "Pennantia cunninghamii". Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants Edition 8 (RFK8). Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (CANBR), Australian Government. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
- ^ "Pennantia cunninghamii". APNI. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
- ^ Miers, John (1852). "On some genera of the Icacinaceae". The Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 2. 9: 491–492. Retrieved 30 May 2022.