Syzygium wilsonii subsp. wilsonii

Family

Myrtaceae

Botanical Name

Syzygium wilsonii (F.Muell.) B.Hyland subsp. wilsonii

Hyland, B.P.M. (1983) Australian Journal of Botany Supplementary Series 9: 134. Type: ?.

Synonyms

Syzygium wilsonii (F.Muell.) B.Hyland, Australian Journal of Botany Supplementary Series 9: 134(1983), Type: ?. Eugenia wilsonii F.Muell., Fragm. Phytogr. Austral. 5: 12(1865), Type: Queensland, Rockingham Bay, J. Dallachy; lecto: MEL; syn: MEL. Fide Hyland (1983). Eugenia subopposita F.M.Bailey, The Queensland Flora 6: 2004(1902), Type: Syntypes: Queensland,Tully River, J.F. Bailey; syn ? Tully River, W.E. Roth; syn: ?.

Common name

Powder-puff Lillipilli; Wilson's Satinash; Powderpuff Lilly-Pilly; Lilly-pilly, Powderpuff; Lillipilli, Powder-puff; Satinash, Wilson's

Stem

Usually flowers and fruits as a shrub 1-3 m tall occasionally growing to a height of 5 m.

Leaves

Leaf blades rather thick and leathery, about 8.6-18.5 x 2.2-5.4 cm; apex acuminate, base rounded or cordate, petioles about 0.2-0.6 cm long. Midrib conspicuously raised on the upper surface.

Flowers

Inflorescence terminal and in the upper axils, bracts deciduous, absent at anthesis. Calyx tube (hypanthium) + pedicel about 7.5-13.5 x 3-4.5 mm, calyx lobes rounded, about 1.5 mm long. Petals orbicular, about 2.5-3 mm diam., oil dots visible, comparatively large, about 50-100 or more per petal. Receptacle cylindrical with the stamens attached to the upper part of the inner surface. Outer staminal filaments pink, about 11-25 mm long, anthers about 0.8-0.9 x 0.5-0.7 mm, gland terminal, on the back of the anther. Ovules about 12-20 per locule, placentas axile, ovules transverse, horizontal. Style about 12-34 mm long, approximating the stamens.

Fruit

Fruits cream or white when ripe, obovoid or globular, excavated at the apex, attaining about 10-16 mm diam., calyx lobes persistent at the apex, lobes about 1-1.5 mm long. Seed solitary, about 5-9 mm diam., testa adhering slightly to the pericarp but free from the smooth but glandular surface of the uniformly textured purple cotyledons. Radicle lateral, cotyledonary stipules not visible.

Seedlings

Cataphylls about 1 or 2 pairs. At the tenth leaf stage: leaf blade lanceolate, apex acuminate, base obtuse or almost cordate, oil dots rather sparse, visible with a lens. Petioles dark, transversely wrinkled or pustular.

Distribution and Ecology

Endemic to NEQ. Altitudinal range from near sea level to 800 m. Grows as an understory plant in undisturbed lowland and upland rain forest.

Natural History

A beautiful ornamental shrub common in cultivation. Noted for its red pendant flushes of new growth, large heads of pink, red or purple flowers and the white fruits.

This subspecies is too small to produce millable logs. Wood specific gravity 0.90. Hyland (1983).

NEQ

X

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

X

RFK Code

3149