Backhousia enata

Family

Myrtaceae

Botanical Name

Backhousia enata A.J.Ford, Craven & J.Holmes

Ford, A.J., Craven, L.A. & Brophy, J.J. (2005) Austrobaileya 7(1): 121-125. Type: Queensland. North Kennedy District: Alcock Forest Reserve, rafting access point No. 9, 5.2 km from Tully River Camping Area [NW of Tully], 14 January 2003, A.Ford 3792, G. Sankowsky & N. Sankowsky.

Synonyms

Backhousia sp. Tully River (A.Ford 3780), : (), Type: ?.

Stem

Single to multistemmed large shrubs or trees. Buttresses absent. Coppicing. Bark of main trunk rough, minutely fissured, more or less flaky, grey-brown. Branches on adult plants conspicuously winged.

Leaves

Leaf blades about 24-38 x 11-18 mm, ovate to elliptic-obovate. Oil glands dense and conspicuous on each surface. About 8-12 main lateral veins forming loops with intramarginal vein. Adult twigs conspicuously winged. Leaves are aromatic with a menthol smell. New growth is red- purple.

Flowers

Inflorescences in upper leaf axils, paniculate, 3-6 flowers.Flowers white, hairy on outside, glabrous inside. Petals about 1.8-2.0 x 1.6x1.9 mm, ovate to nearly orbicular.

Fruit

Fruit, 2-2.2 x 2-2.3 mm excluding the calyx lobes; calyx lobes spreading, to 5 x 4 mm. Seeds 5-7 per locule, ca. 1 mm long, 3-faced with the abaxial face convex.

Distribution and Ecology

Endemic to NEQ, currently only known in the Tully River catchment. Grows in notophyll vineforest and rainforest on soils derived from rhyolite and basalt.

Natural History

Leaves are aromatic with a menthol smell.

NEQ

X

Shrub (woody or herbaceous, 1-6 m tall)

X

Tree

X

RFK Code

3574