Bosistoa transversa

Location & distribution maps

Plant  information

Common name:                Satinheart

•  Also, three-leaved bosistoa

Conservation status:  Vulnerable

• It is classified as vulnerable under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and in NSW under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016

• The main threats to the species include clearing of rainforests, invasion of remaining rainforest areas by weeds, and grazing by livestock

Etymology:   

• The generic name Bosistoa honours the name of Joseph Bosisto, a manufacturer of essential oils

• The specific epithet transversa refers to the transversal ribbed carpels of the fruit

Flowers:                  

• Appearing from January to March, the tiny white flowers are arranged in panicles 70–160 mm long

• They are on the ends of branches or in upper leaf axils

• The five sepals are about 1 mm long the five petals broadly elliptical and about 3 mm long

• Flowering occurs from December to May 

Fruit:                         

• Pairs of small woody, oval follicles that ripen from May to July

Leaves:         

• The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs on thin brown or grey-brown branches and are pinnate, 85–160 mm long on a petiole 5–30 mm long

• The leaves usually have three, sometimes up to seven glossy leaflets with prominent oil glands

• The leaflets are oblong to elliptical, 40–125 mm long and 10–60 mm wide,

• The side leaflets on petiolules 1–5 mm long, the end leaflet on a petiolule 5–25 mm long

Stem & branches: 

• Typically grows to a height of 15–22 m

• Has a cylindrical, sometimes crooked trunk

• The trunk has a diameter of 8–20 cm 

•  It is mostly smooth dark brown bark with irregular horizontal ridges

Roots:         

Habit:        

• Small to medium-sized tree

Habitat:   

• It is found in forest and subtropical rainforest from sea level to an altitude of 500 m

Distribution:                  

• Endemic to eastern Australia

• Occurs from Mount Larcom in central-eastern Queensland, south to Mullumbimby in north eastern NSW

Additional notes:     

• Taxonomy

  • Was first formally described in 1917 by Queensland botanists John Frederick Bailey and Cyril Tenison White and the description was published in the Botany Bulletin of the Department of Agriculture, Queensland

Sources of information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosistoa_transversa (Jan 2024)