Elaeocarpus reticulatus
Blueberry Ash
Blueberry Ash
Wikipedia links: Angiosperms > Eudicots > Rosids > Oxalidales > Elaeocarpaceae > Elaeocarpus reticulatus
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Common name: Blueberry Ash
Also, ash quandong, blue olive berry, fairy petticoats, fringe tree, koda, lily of the valley tree and scrub ash
Conservation status: unknown
Etymology:
The specific epithet (reticulatus) means "with the appearance of a net"
Flowers:
Racemes of white or pink flowers and blue
The flowers are arranged in racemes up to 50–80 mm long, with between five and ten flowers, each on a pedicel 4–8 mm long
The five sepals are narrow triangular 5–6 mm long and about 1 mm wide
The five petals are white, sometimes pinkish, 6–7 mm long and about 2 mm wide, the tip with between seven and ten linear lobes
There are between thirteen and fifteen stamens and the style is 3–4 mm long
Flowering occurs from October to January
Fruit:
Oval to spherical fruit
It is a more or less spherical, oval or elliptical blue drupe about 12 mm
Leaves:
The leaves are simple, (strictly compound with only one leaflet), oblong to elliptic
Mostly 50–130 mm long and 10–40 mm wide on a petiole 5–20 mm long
The leaves are more or less glabrous, often turn red before falling
They have regular teeth along the edges
It has small domatia and a prominent network of veins on both surfaces
Stem & branches:
x
Roots:
x
Habit:
A shrub or small tree
Typically grows to a height of 3–10 m, but up to 30 m in some situations
Has a lignotuber at its base
Habitat:
It often grows in tall eucalypt forest, in or near rainforest, often in moist gullies, but also found on stony ridges
Distribution:
Endemic to eastern Australia
It occurs along the east coast of Australia from Fraser Island in Queensland to Flinders Island in Tasmania
In NSW it is found from sea level to the ranges and in Victoria to the east of Wilsons Promontory where it is often locally common
Species:
World: S, G
Australia: S, G
Additional notes:
Taxonomy
It was first formally described in 1809 by James Edward Smith in Abraham Rees's The Cyclopaedia from specimens collected near Port Jackson by John White
Ecology
The fruits are eaten by birds, including wonga pigeons, crimson rosellas, figbirds, white-headed pigeons and olive-backed orioles and the regent bowerbird collects them to decorate its bower
Use in horticulture
It is described as "an outstanding specimen tree for coastal gardens"
Propagation of the plant can be achieved from semi-hardwood cuttings taken in warmer weather, but germination from seed can take several years
The shrub is hardy in most situations and can be grown in shade to full sun
Sources of information:
(2023)