Eucryphia

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information:

Wikipedia links:       Angiosperms > Eudicots > Rosids  >  Oxalidales > Cunoniaceae  >  Eucryphia      

Other links:                                               

Plant  information

Common name:                ...  

Conservation status:  ...

Etymology:   

• The generic name Eucryphia is composed of two parts, namely eu- and -cryphia

• The Greek ευ-κρυφαιος means well-covered and refers to the foliage, which is clustered towards the apex of branches

Flowers:                  

• The flowers are produced in late summer or autumn

• They are showy and sweetly scented

• 3–6 cm diameter

• 4 creamy-white petals

• Numerous stamens and styles

Fruit:                         

• The fruit is a woody capsule 1-1.5 cm long

•  Containing several seeds

• Maturing in 12–15 months

Leaves:         

• The leaves are opposite

• Either simple or pinnate with 3-13 leaflets

Stem & branches: 

Roots:         

Habit:        

• A small genus of large shrubs and trees, up to 40 m tall

• They are mostly evergreen though one species (E. glutinosa) is usually deciduous

Habitat:   

Distribution:                  

• Of the 7 species, 2 are in South America and 5 in Australia

Species:                     

• World:            7

• Australia:      5

Additional notes:     

• Extant species

  • Eucryphia cordifolia

    • Temperate rain forests of southern Chile and Argentina

    •  Up to 40 m tall; leaves simple, crenate to serrated, evergreen

  • Eucryphia glutinosa

    • Temperate rain forests of southern Chile

    • Up to 7 m tall; leaves pinnate, with 3-5 leaflets, serrated, deciduous or semi-evergreen

  • Eucryphia jinksii  (discovered 1994)

    • Subtropical NSW & Queensland mountain rainforests 

    • A tree to 25 m tall; leaves simple or with 3 leaflets, entire, evergreen

  • Eucryphia lucida

    • Tasmania Australia.

    • Up to 20–30 m tall; leaves simple, entire, evergreen

  • Eucryphia milliganii 

    • Tasmania Australia

    • Up to 6 m tall; leaves simple, entire, evergreen

  • Eucryphia moorei 

    • NSW, Victoria temperate rainforests

    • Up to 30 m tall; leaves pinnate, with 7-15 leaflets, entire, evergreen

  • Eucryphia wilkiei  (discovered in 1970 )

    • Queensland wet tropics mountain top cloud forests 

    • A large shrub

• Extinct species

  • Eucryphia falcata –  Late Palaeocene

  • Eucryphia microstoma – Early Eocene

  • Eucryphia aberensis – Middle to Late Eocene

• Natural hybrids

  • Eucryphia × hybrida -  E. lucida and E. milliganii native to Tasmania

  • Eucryphia × nymansensis - E. cordifolia and E. glutinosa native to Chile

• Artificial hybrids and cultivars (agm => Award of Garden Merit)

  • E. × intermedia (E. glutinosa × E. lucida)

  • E. × intermedia 'Rostrevor' agm

  • E. × hillieri (E. moorei × E. lucida) - developed from a self-sown seedling at the nursery in Hampshire around 1953

  • E. × nymansensis (E. cordifolia × E. glutinosa)

  • E. × nymansensis 'Nymansay' agm -  originated from a garden in Sussex  in 1913

  • E. × nymansensis 'Nymans Silver' - discovered in Sussex in 2005

  • E. 'Penwith' (E. cordifolia × E. lucida)

  • E. × hybrida (E. glutinosa × E. lucida)

• Uses

  • The species and their hybrids are attractive small trees for gardens, typically with a slender conic crown when young, though widening with age

  • They are valued for their conspicuous scented flowers, produced in late summer and autumn when few or no other trees are in flower

  • Cultivation is restricted to areas with mild winters, cool summers and good rainfall; away from their native areas

  • This restricts them to the Atlantic coastal regions of Europe, the Pacific Northwest of North America, and New Zealand

  • Honey

    • The nectar of two of the species provides an important sources of honey

    • Eucryphia lucida from Tasmania is the main source of a very distinctively flavoured honey known as Leatherwood (the common name for the species)

    • Some of this honey may come from the other Tasmanian species, E. milliganii

    • In Chile, Ulmo honey comes from E. cordifolia

    • Leatherwood honey and Ulmo honey are very similar in flavour, even though the two species have probably been separated for more than 45 million years

Sources of information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucryphia (2023)