Myoporum betcheanum 

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information:

Wikipedia links:       Angiosperms  > Eudicots > Asterids > Lamiales > Scrophulariaceae  > Myoporum betcheanum

Other links:     

Plant  information

Common name:               Mountain Boobialla

Conservation status:   unknown

Etymology:   

Flowers:                  

• The flowers are arranged in groups of 3 to 8 on a short stalk in the axils of the leaves

•  Have 5 sepals and 5 white petals joined at their base to form a tube

• The tube is 2.9–4.9 mm long, the lobes are 2.8–3.7 mm long and there are 4 stamens. 

• Flowering occurs between December and May

Fruit:                         

• Drupes with three compartments, each with one seed

• The fruits are roughly oval to spherical in shape and are smooth, white or cream coloured tinged with pink

Leaves:         

• The leaves are 58–130 mm long or longer, 6–19 mm 

• Wide, flat, narrow elliptic in shape and with small teeth on the margins

• They are darker on the upper surface

• Both surfaces are covered with short, soft hairs

Stem & branches:   

• Its branches often have a few to many small, wart-like tubercles and are moderately to densely hairy

Roots:         

Habit:        

• A shrub or small tree growing to about 8 metres high 

Habitat:   

• As its common name suggests, this plant is restricted to higher places, around 1,000 m above sea level

• It occurs on the edges of rainforest and in wet forests at 850–1,100 m above sea level

Distribution:                  

•  It occurs in the McPherson Range and nearby mountains of NSW and Queensland

Additional notes:     

Taxonomy

• • Myoporum betcheanum was first formally described in 1969 by Lindsay Stuart Smith in Contributions from the Queensland Herbarium from a specimen collected at Cunninghams Gap

  • The specific epithet (betcheanum) honours Ernst Betche who was the first to recognise this as a separate species

• Use in horticulture

  • Myoporum betcheanum is an attractive species for the garden because although the flowers are small, they are profuse and appear over an extended period

  • It is readily propagated from cuttings

Sources of information:

• (2023)