Ricinocarpos speciosus is a species of flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a slender, erect, open monoecious or dioeciuos shrub with narrowly elliptic or narrowly oblong leaves and white flowers arranged with two or more male flowers, or with one to four female flowers surrounded by up to four male flowers.
| Ricinocarpos speciosus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Malpighiales |
| Family: | Euphorbiaceae |
| Genus: | Ricinocarpos |
| Species: | R. speciosus
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| Binomial name | |
| Ricinocarpos speciosus | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Description edit
Ricinocarpos speciosus is a slender, erect, open monoecious or dioecious shrub that typically grows to height of up to 3 m (9.8 ft), its young branchlets covered with dense, greyish-white, star-shaped hairs. The leaves are narrowly elliptic or narrowly oblong, mostly 50–90 mm (2.0–3.5 in) long and 8–20 mm (0.31–0.79 in) wide on a densely hairy petiole 4–10 mm (0.16–0.39 in) long. The lower surface is covered with woolly, soft, white, star-shaped hairs. The flowers arranged with two or more male flowers, or with one to four female flowers surrounded by up to four male flowers. Male flowers are on a slender pedicel 10–25 mm (0.39–0.98 in) long, the sepals joined at the base, the sepal lobes 3.5–5.0 mm (0.14–0.20 in) long. The petals are white, 7–9.5 mm (0.28–0.37 in) long and 3.0–5.5 mm (0.12–0.22 in) long, and there are 40 to 50 stamens in a central column 2.5–4.00 mm (0.098–0.157 in) long. Female flowers are on a stout pedicel 8–22 mm (0.31–0.87 in) long, the sepal lobes 4.5–6.0 mm (0.18–0.24 in) long and about 3 mm (0.12 in) wide. The petals are white, 9 mm (0.35 in) long and 5 mm (0.20 in) wide. Flowering has been observed from June to October, and the fruit is an elliptic capsule 7–11 mm (0.28–0.43 in) long and 8–11 mm (0.31–0.43 in) wide.[2][3]
Taxonomy and naming edit
Ricinocarpos speciosus was first formally described in 1864 by Johannes Müller Argoviensis in the journal Flora: oder Allgemeine Botanischer Zeitung.[4][5] The specific epithet (speciosus) means "showy".[6]
Distribution and habitat edit
This species grows in slopes or on rocky creek banks and rocky slopes of hillsides, in wet sclerophyll forest often near the edges of rainforest, from Tewantin to Springbrook in south-east Queensland, and in Gibraltar Range National Park to near Port Macquarie in New South Wales.[2][3]
References edit
- ^ a b "Ricinocarpos speciosus". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
- ^ a b Halford, David A.; Henderson, Rodney J.F. (2007). "A taxonomic revision of Ricinocarpos Desf. (Euphorbiaceae: Ricinocarpeae, Ricinocarpinae)". Austrobaileya. 7 (3): 428–429. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
- ^ a b James, Teresa A.; Harden, Gwen J. "Ricinocarpus speciosus". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
- ^ "Ricinocarpos muricatus". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
- ^ Argovensis, Johannes M. (1864). "Neue Euphorbiaceen des Herbarium Hooker in Kew, auszugsweise vorläufig mitgetheilt aus dem manuscript für De Candolle's Prodromus". Flora: oder Allgemeine Botanischer Zeitung. 47 (30): 470–471. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 310. ISBN 9780958034180.