Harpullia pendula

Family

Sapindaceae

Botanical Name

Harpullia pendula Planch. ex F.Muell.

Mueller, F.J.H. von (1859) Transactions and Proceedings of the Philosophical Institute of Victoria 3: 26. Type: In the forests near Moreton Bay Brisbane River, Sept. 1828, A Cunningham 125; iso: MEL. Fide Reynolds (1985).

Common name

Tulip Lancewood; Queensland Tulipwood; Black Tulip; Black Tulipwood; Mogun-mogun; Tulipwood

Stem

Stems of larger trees usually fluted, angular or irregular in section. A thin, cream or yellow layer generally visible beneath the subrhytidome layer before the first section of the outer blaze.

Leaves

Compound leaf rhachis about 1.5-6 cm long. Leaflet blades about 5.5-10.5 x 2-4 cm. Lateral veins generally forming loops inside the blade margin. Terminal buds and young shoots clothed in very short, cream or yellowish hairs. Slightly elongated lenticels usually conspicuous on the older twigs.

Flowers

Calyx clothed in stellate hairs. Petals about 7-8 mm long, pubescent on the inner surface. Stamens eight. Disk glabrous. Stigmatic surfaces two, linear, running about halfway down the style.

Fruit

Fruits about 1.3-2.5 cm long, 2-lobed. Calyx persistent, clothed in stellate hairs. Aril minute or absent. Cotyledons green.

Seedlings

First pair of leaves usually compound. At the tenth leaf stage: leaflet blades +/- elliptic, apex acuminate or apiculate, base oblique, hairs present on the upper surface at least along the midrib; terminal pair of leaflets often larger than the lower leaflets.

Distribution and Ecology

Endemic to Australia, occurs in NEQ and southwards as far as north-eastern New South Wales. Altitudinal range from near sea level to 850 m. Grows in drier, more seasonal rain forest.

Natural History

Food plant for the larval stages of the Cornelian Butterfly. Common & Waterhouse (1981).