Cuttsia viburnea

Location & distribution maps

Common name:         Native Elderberry

Conservation status: . . .

Etymology:   

Flowers

• The inflorescence is a multi-flowered panicle of 8–18 cm long. The symmetrical star-shaped flowers are pentamerous and pleasantly honey scented

• The five triangular green sepals are less than 1 mm long

• The five free white petals are long inverted tear-shaped 3–4 mm long and have a pointy tip

• The five narrow white filaments alternate with the petals and are topped with anthers shorter than the filament, that shed cream-colored pollen

• Pollen is tricolpate, triangular from a polar perspective and round from an equatorial perspective, about 20 μm, has a netted surface structure and is not shed in clusters of four but individually (microscope)

• On top of the yellowish disc sits a narrow white style that has a stigma with five lobes

• Flowers can be found from October to December

Fruit:                            

• The fruit is a green to light brown globose to ovoid capsule of 3–4 mm long, each locule of which opens separately. Seeds are minute and ovoid in shape

Leaves:         

• Leaves are alternately arranged along the stems. The leaf stem is 1½-4½ cm long

• The leaf blades are hairless, soft and thin in texture, bright green and shiny above with a paler underside, oval with the widest point at or beyond midlength, 8–20 × 2–6½ cm

• Its foot gradually narrows into the leaf stem, the edge is uniformly toothed and each tooth ends in a gland, and its tip is pointed

• The secondary veins emerge at about 45° from the main vein and strongly curve, with their ends parallel to the edge of the leaf

Stem & branches: 

• Young shoots and inflorescences have hairs that are flat against the surface

Roots:         

Habit:        

• A shrub or bushy tree of up to 15 m high. Its branchlets however are initially herbaceous and have conspicuous lenticels

Habitat:   

Distribution:                  

• On the East-coast of Australia between Noosa Heads, Queensland and Newcastle, NSW and a few isolated locations in the mountains of Queensland

Additional notes:     

• Differences with related taxa

  • Cuttsia has white flowers with filaments longer than the anthers, a definite style and dry capsules, while Abrophyllum has creamy yellow flowers with filaments shorter than the anther, a seated stigma and the fruit is a berry that is black when ripe

  • In Cuttsia the ovary is superior, the stigma has five lobes and the seeds are small and ovate, while in Carpodetus the ovary is semi-inferior and topped by a conspicuous disc, the stigma is undivided and the seeds are angular, while the fruit is a black or greyish berry

• Taxonomy

  • The genus and species were first formally described by botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in 1865 in Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae

  • Modern classification

    • Cuttsia is most related to Abrophyllum and Carpodetus and these were joined in the Carpodetaceae

    • Recent genetic analysis showed a close relationship of this cluster with Roussea, an endemic of Mauritius, and these now constitute the Rousseaceae

• Phylogeny

  • The following tree represents the current insights in the relationships of Roussea with other taxa.

    • family Campanulaceae

      • subfamily Rousseoideae

        • Roussea

      • subfamily Carpodetoideae

        • Abrophyllum

        • Cuttsia

        • Carpodetus

• Ecology

  • The silver-leaved cuttsia occurs in subtropical and warm-temperate rainforest, and has a preference for locations with more light such as margins, regrowth, and along steams. The species is self-infertile. The flowers produce nectar and are visited by an array of different insects. Adults of the jewel beetle Calodema regalis are said to feed on Cuttsia.

Sources of information:

• https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://id.biodiversity.org.au/node/apni/2904451 (2024)