Eupomatia

Contents:

Common name:                Bolwarra

Conservation status:  . . .

Etymology:   

Flowers:                  

• The flowers are fragrant, bisexual, axillary or terminal, usually single but occasionally in clusters of 2 or 3

• They are initially fully covered by a cap known as a calyptra

• The perianth (i.e. petals and sepals) is absent

• Female parts mature before the males parts

• Stamens and staminodes are numerous and petal-like, arranged in a spiral following the Fibonacci sequence, and detaching as a whole after maturity

• The ovary is inferior, locules are numerous, style is absent and the stigma sessile

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Fruit:                         

• The fleshy fruit is an aggregate and berry-like with numerous seeds

• The endosperm is ruminate (i.e. grooved or wrinkled)

Leaves:         

• The leaves are simple and alternate, without hairs or stipules, and may be distichous or spirally arranged

• Leaf blades are somewhat leathery, with pinnate venation (with a midrib and pairs of veins branching off on either side) and entire (not toothed) margins

• Tertiary venation is reticulate, i.e. net-like

Stem & branches: 

Roots:         

Habit:        

• Evergreen shrubs or small trees

Habitat:   

•  Rainforests a (tropical and subtropical ) and humid eucalypt forests 

Distribution:                  

• Native to eastern Australia and New Guinea

Species:                     

• World:     3      

• Australia:     3

• As of 9 November 2023, Eupomatia contains the following three species:

  • Eupomatia barbata – northeastern Queensland

  • Eupomatia bennettii – northeastern New South Wales and southeastern Queensland

  • Eupomatia laurina – eastern Australia and New Guinea

Additional notes:     

• Taxonomy

  • It is the sole genus in the family Eupomatiaceae

  • It is recognised by most taxonomists 

  • The type species Eupomatia laurina was described in 1814 by Robert Brown

  • The APG IV system of 2016 places the family in the order Magnoliales under the clade magnoliids 

  • It has been here through the history of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group

  • It is most closely related to the family Annonaceae

  • The Angiosperm Phylogeny Website also considers Eupomatiaceae a sister group of the family Annonaceae in the terminal clade in the order's evolution