Atractocarpus sessilis

Family

Rubiaceae

Botanical Name

Atractocarpus sessilis (F.Muell.) Puttock

Puttock, C.F. (1999) Australian Systematic Botany 12: 294. Type: ?.

Synonyms

Randia sessilis F.Muell., Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae 7: 47(1869), Type: Ad promontorium Cape York; B. Gulliver..

Common name

False Gardenia; Brown Randia

Stem

Seldom exceeding 30 cm dbh.

Leaves

Stipules about 15-20 mm long, usually slightly spirally twisted, gradually tapering to a point and enclosing the terminal bud on each twig. Outer surface minutely pubescent. Stipules oblong in transverse section. Stipular scar with a raised annular ring. Petioles of older leaves clothed in scurfy flakes, adaxial surface without transverse ridges. Leaf blades about 8.5-22 x 3-12 cm.

Flowers

Calyx lobes small, inconspicuous and irregular, calyx tube (hypanthium) about 10 mm long. Flowers quite large, corolla tube about 12 mm long, corolla lobes about 7-8 mm long. Anthers about 4-5 mm long, included in the corolla tube, filaments short. Style + stigma about 10-11 mm long, swollen part about 6 mm long, stigmatic lobes about 1 mm long.

Fruit

Fruits scurfy, ellipsoid or ovoid, about 45-60 x 40-50 mm, calyx persisting at the apex. Seeds numerous, turgid, reniform, about 5-6 x 7 mm. Cotyledons slightly wider than the radicle.

Seedlings

Cotyledons ovate, about 9-10 mm long. At the tenth leaf stage: leaf blade obovate, apex acuminate, base attenuate, glabrous, midrib raised on the upper surface; stipules linear, about 15 mm long or longer.

Distribution and Ecology

Endemic to Queensland, occurs in CYP and NEQ. Altitudinal range from sea level to 550 m. Grows as an understory tree in monsoon forest, drier, more seasonal rain forest, beach forest and on the margins of well developed lowland rain forest.