Ochna serrulata

Family

Ochnaceae

Botanical Name

Ochna serrulata (Hochst.) Walp.

Walpers, W.G. (1846) Repertorium Botanicae Systematicae 5: 400. Type: ?.

Synonyms

Diporidium serrulatum Hochst., Flora 27: 304(1844), Type: ?.

Common name

Mickey-Mouse Plant; Ochna

Weed

Stem

Usually flowers and fruits as a shrub about 1-3 tall.

Leaves

Leaf blades about 30-45 x 10-15 mm, petioles about 1-2 mm long. Margin serrate with about 30-40 coarse teeth on each side. Lateral veins about 30-40 on each side of the midrib. Stipules linear, filiform, about 1-2 mm long.

Flowers

Flowers perfumed. Calyx lobes to about 8 mm long, longitudinally veined. Petals about 10 mm long. Stigma multilobed.

Fruit

Fruits consist of a bright red receptacle with up to six black fruiting carpels embedded in it. Seeds about 8 mm long. Cotyledons about 8 mm long, radicle small.

Seedlings

First pair of leaves; margins finely serrate. At the tenth leaf stage: leaf blade conspicuously serrate with about 30-40 teeth on each side. Venation conspicuously raised on the upper surface. Stipules caducous, about 3 mm long, +/- sheathing the axillary buds.

Distribution and Ecology

An introduced species originally from southern Africa, now naturalized in NEQ and also in south eastern Queensland and coastal central New South Wales. Altitudinal range in NEQ from near sea level to 800 m. Usually grows as a garden weed, apparently distributed by fruit-eating birds but also found in disturbed rain forest.

Natural History

A commonly grown garden plant that produces yellow flowers and small black berries, now escaped because birds spread the seeds.