Alectryon tomentosus

Family

Sapindaceae

Botanical Name

Alectryon tomentosus (F.Muell.) Radlk.

Radlkofer, L.A.T. (1879) Actes du Congres Internationale de Botanistes ... Amsterdam for 1877: 117. Type: ?.

Synonyms

Nephelium tomentosum F.Muell., Transactions of the Philosophical Institute of Victoria 2: 64(1857), Type: On the Brisbane River. Hill & Mueller..

Common name

Woolly Rambutan; Bed-jacket; Hairy Alectryon; Hairy Bird's Eye; Red Jacket

Stem

A small tree seldom exceeding 30 cm dbh. Blaze layering usually very conspicuous.

Leaves

Young twigs longitudinally grooved and clothed in yellow +/- erect tortuous hairs. Leaflet blades about 4-14.5 x 2-6.5 cm. Leaflet stalks quite short.

Flowers

Calyx (perianth) 5-lobed, about 1.5 mm long, villous. Petals absent. Anthers red. Disk red.

Fruit

Capsules about 8-22 mm diam, sessile, with 1-3 knob-like lobes, densely woolly on the outer surface. Seeds black. Aril cupular, but much larger than and almost obscuring the seed, granular and red.

Seedlings

Cotyledons +/- spathulate, about 10-12 mm long. First pair of leaves trifoliolate, the leaflets lobed or coarsely toothed. At the tenth leaf stage: leaflet blades coarsely toothed, terminal bud clothed in yellowish, erect, tortuous hairs.

Distribution and Ecology

Endemic to Australia, occurs in CYP, NEQ and southwards as far as coastal central New South Wales. Altitudinal range from near sea level to 950 m. Grows in monsoon forest and drier, more seasonal rain forest.