Lomatia myricoides

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information:

Wikipedia links:       Angiosperms > Eudicots > Basal Eudicots > Proteales > Proteaceae > Lomatia myricoides

Other links:     

Plant  information

Common name:        River Lomatia

• Also, mountain beech and long-leaf lomatia

Etymology:   

• Lomatia:  from Greek loma, a fringe, referring to the wing that surrounds the seed

• The species name comes from the resemblance of the leaves to those of the genus Myrica

• The suffix -oides means "likeness" in Latin

Flowers:                  

•  Small ants and flies forage for nectar in the flowers

Fruit:                         

Leaves:         

• The leaves are lance-shaped or oblong, 50–200 mm long and 5–20 mm  wide and have a pointed apex

• They are glabrous and the leaf edges may be straight or adorned with several serrations

• The flowers grow in groups in leaf axils, the groups 50–100 mm long and usually shorter than the leaves

• The flowers are white or cream in colour, though pink-tinged flowers have been recorded

Stem & branches: 

Roots:         

• It has a woody lignotuber, from which it regenerates after bushfire

Habit:        

• A woody shrub or small tree, reaching 2–5 m high, or rarely up to 8 m high

Habitat:   

• Lomatia myricoides is found in moist sheltered areas such as riverbank forests and montane forest, on loamy or sandy alluvial, or on basalt-derived soils

• Associated species along watercourses include watergum (Tristaniopsis laurina), grey myrtle (Backhousia myrtifolia), cedar wattle (Acacia elata), coachwood (Ceratopetalum apetalum), tantoon (Leptospermum polygalifolium) and coral fern (Gleichenia dicarpa)

• Montane trees that L. myricoides grows as an understory with include broad-leaved manna gum (Eucalyptus mannifera), broad-leaved peppermint (E. dives), as well as the shrubs daphne heath (Brachyloma daphnoides) and prickly broom heath (Monotoca scoparia)

Distribution:                  

•  A shrub native to NSW and Victoria in southeastern Australia

• The range is from the NSW Central Coast south into eastern Victoria to the Dandenong Ranges

Additional notes:        

• Taxonomy

  • German botanist Karl Friedrich von Gaertner first described this species as Embothrium myricoides in 1807

  • At the time, Embothrium was a wastebasket taxon to which many proteaceae were assigned

  • It was given its current binomial name by Karel Domin in 1921

• Hybrids 

  • Hybrids have been recorded with tree lomatia (Lomatia fraseri) on the Southern Tablelands, with native holly (L. ilicifolia) on the NSW south coast, and with crinkle bush (L. silaifolia) on the New South Wales Central Coast and Central Tablelands

  •  Analysis of chloroplast DNA showed that there is extensive hybridization between the five species (L. arborescens, L. fraseri, L. ilicifolia, L. myricoides and L. silaifolia) of mainland southeastern Australia, though each is distinct enough to warrant species status

• Cultivation

  • Not commonly seen in cultivation, Lomatia myricoides grows in semi-shade in situations with some moisture

  • It appears to tolerate Phytophthora cinnamomi

  • Joseph Maiden reported that its wood was light and hard, and easily worked

Sources of information:

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