Wilkiea hugeliana 

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information

Wikipedia links:       Angiosperms > Magnoliids >  Laurales > Monimiaceae > Wilkiea hugeliana

Other links:        

Plant  information

Common name:                Common wilkiea

• Also, tetra beech, and veiny wilkiea

Conservation status:  ...

Etymology:   

Flowers:   

• A dioecious species, the plants are either male or female

• The yellow green fragrant flowers form from September to February

• It is most likely pollinated by Thrips setipennis, a species of thrips

• These insects have been found in both male and female flowers

Fruit:                         

• Fruit matures from May to September

• The fruiting receptacle is shiny black in colour, 7 to 12 mm in diameter, without a stalk

• Several of them sit together on a tubular disk

• Regeneration is from fresh seeds that stand out white on the darker forest floor, after having been dropped by birds

Leaves:         

• The leaves measure 5 to 13 cm long, and 1 to 5 cm wide, and are opposite on the stem

• Elliptic or oblong in shape, they usually have toothed margins, though rarely entire

• Rounded at the top, tapering at the stem end of the leaf. Dark and glossy above the leaf, dull and paler underneath

• The leaf stalks are 3 to 11 mm long, and are very heavily and noticeably veined, particularly below the leaf

Stem & branches: 

• The trunk is often crooked and irregular though not buttressed

• The bark is smooth, brown or greyish, though can be somewhat scaly on larger plants

Roots:         

Habit:        

• A shrub or small tree achieving a height of 8 m and a stem diameter of 10 cm

Habitat:   

• Common small tree of rainforest in eastern Australia

• In the understorey of all forms or rainforest, except cool temperate forest subject to colder temperatures

• It has a preference for volcanic soils

Distribution:                  

• The natural distribution is from Mount Dromedary (36° S) near Narooma in south eastern NSW to Maryborough (25° S) in south eastern Queensland

Additional notes:     

• Taxonomy

  • Originally described by French naturalist Louis René Tulasne

  • it was given its current name by Alphonse Pyramus de Candolle

Sources of information:

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