Daphnandra johnsonii
Illawarra Socketwood
Illawarra Socketwood
Wikipedia links: Angiosperms > Magnoliids > Laurales > Atherospermataceae > Daphnandra > johnsonii
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Common name: Illawarra Socketwood
The term "socketwood" is from the related species Daphnandra apatela
A feature of which is where larger branchlets meet the main trunk
This joining resembles a "ball and socket" type joint
Conservation status: Endangered
Most of the 41 site] are under immediate threat from clearing for agriculture, urban expansion, feral animals, weeds, inappropriate use of fire and herbicide, quarrying, and road construction
Only two small populations are conserved in the reserve system
The biggest and healthiest populations are on private property
Etymology:
The generic name Daphnandra refers to a similarity of the anthers of the bay laurel
Greek daphne refers to the bay laurel, and andros from the Greek for man
Flowers:
Tiny flowers appear in spring, on long flower stems
Flowers white with pinkish red margins
They form on panicles or racemes, 3 to 8 cm long
The sepals and petals are around 1 to 3 mm
Fruit:
The fruiting capsule is woody and hairless, around 15 to 20 mm long
Opening in two sections
Mature seeds are feathery
Healthy seeds germinate readily within a month of sowing
Plants often don't produce fertile fruit in the wild and these fruit are shorter and rounder than the viable fruit
These short fruit appear to be galled and contain no seed but contain many silky hairs or plumes that are normally attached to the seeds
Some trees contain a mixture of both short, galled fruits and long fertile fruits, most trees seem to only produce galled fruits and trees that produce only fertile fruits are rare
It also has a limited ability to colonise new areas
Its main survival strategy is the ability to sucker and coppice
Leaves:
Leaves ovate or elliptic in shape, 6 to 12 cm long, 1.5 cm to 6 cm wide with a sharply angled tip
Leaves are opposite on the stem, prominently toothed, 7 to 9 teeth on each side of the leaf
The bottom third of the leaf is without leaf serrations
The point of the leaf base to the first serration is almost a straight line
The bottom of the leaf is glossy pale green, the top side is a dull dark green
Leaf scars evident
Leaf buds with soft hairs
Leaf venation is more evident under the leaf
Lateral veins not clear on the top surface
Mid rib raised both sides of the leaf
Six or seven pairs of lateral veins
Leaf stems 2 to 7 mm long, and smooth
Old leaves go pale and turn yellow on the stem
Leaves similar to the related common sassafras (Doryphora sassafras)
There are one or two teeth per centimetre on the Illawarra socketwood
The mid rib is raised above and below on the Illawarra socketwood
Lateral veins of the common sassafras are at a less acute angle than the Illawarra socketwood
Illawarra socketwood lateral veins are sharply angled at around 40 degrees in relation to the mid rib of the leaf
The scent of the leaf is more faint and "soapy" on the Illawarra socketwood
Leaves of common sassafras are more aromatic, usually less coarsely toothed and the mid rib is sunken on the upper surface
Common Sassafras leaves thicker and heavier to touch.
Stem & branches:
The trunk is beige in colour, cylindrical with little buttressing
Sometimes seen with coppice leaves at the base
The bark is fairly smooth with some raised pustules of a darker colour
Branchlets are fairly thick with lenticels
Wider and flatter at the nodes
Roots:
Habit:
A small to medium-sized tree
Growing to around 20 metres tall and a stem diameter of 30 cm, with a broad and shady crown
Habitat:
t is found most often at less than 150 metres above sea level on volcanic soils in sub tropical rainforest
Occasionally it is found as high as 350 metres above sea level
It grows often by creeks, or dry rocky scree slopes, and in disturbed forest and rainforest margins
Distribution:
In the Illawarra district of eastern Australia
From southern Berry, NSW to Scarborough, NSW in the northern Illawarra (34° S)
Additional notes:
Naming and taxonomy
A member of the ancient Gondwana family Atherospermataceae, the Illawarra socketwood is endangered by extinction
Formerly considered the southernmost population of Daphnandra micrantha, the Australian socketwood
Recently it has been recognised as a separate species
The type specimen collected in the Illawarra district by L.A.S. Johnson, after whom the species was named, by Richard Schodde
Sources of information: