Litsea australis

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information:

Wikipedia links:       Angiosperms > Magnoliids > Laurales > Lauraceae > Litsea australis

Other links:     

Plant  information

Common name:                Brown Bolly Gum

• Also, Bollygum

• "bollies" is the colloquial name for depressions caused by the shedding of round scales of bark

Conservation status:  . . .

Etymology:   

• Litsea is derived from Chinese 'li', means plum, and 'tse', means small

• The specific epithet australis means "southern"

Flowers:                  

• Tiny green or cream colour flowers form from January to June

• Male and female flowers grow on separate trees

Fruit:

• The fruit is a black drupe, eaten by a variety of rainforest birds

Fruit:                         

Leaves:         

• Leaves are elliptical in shape, alternate on the stem. 8 to 13 cm long with a blunt tip, rarely to 20 cm long

• The underside of the leaf is green with brown hairs

• Leaf stalks 8 to 15 mm long

• Leaf venation is prominent on both sides of the leaf

Stem & branches: 

• The base of the tree is sometimes buttressed in larger individuals

• Bark is rough and irregular, a reddish brown colour

• Young shoots are hairy

Roots:         

Habit:        

•  A small to medium sized tree, up to 20 metres tall

Habitat:   

• Found in a variety of different rainforest types, but often seen growing near the sea

Distribution:                  

• Eastern Australia

• From Forster, NSW in the south to Fraser Island in Queensland

Additional notes:     

• Taxonomy

  • The southern population was considered to be Litsea leefeana, until reclassified by the rainforest botanist Bernie Hyland in 1989

• Food plant

  • Butterfly larvae and birds use this plant as a food source

  • Such as the wompoo fruit dove, rose-crowned fruit dove, purple moonbeam and blue triangle butterfly

Sources of information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litsea_australis (Jan 2024)