Arytera divaricata, known as the Gap Axe, Coogara, Coogera or Rose Tamarind is a common rainforest tree of eastern Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. An attractive plant with glossy pale and limp new leaves. It grows in fairly dry situations, often at sea side rainforests.

The southern most limit of natural distribution Port Stephens

Port Stephens

Port Stephens is a large natural harbour located about north-east of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. It lies wholly within the Port Stephens Local Government Area although its northern shoreline forms the boundary between the Port Stephens and Great Lakes LGAs...

 (32° S) in New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, extending up to Cape York

Cape York Peninsula

Cape York Peninsula is a large remote peninsula located in Far North Queensland at the tip of the state of Queensland, Australia, the largest unspoilt wilderness in northern Australia and one of the last remaining wilderness areas on Earth...

 at the northern most tip of Australia. The generic name Arytera

Arytera

Arytera is a genus of 25 species of trees and shrubs in the soapberry family Sapindaceae. They are distributed across the Philippines, Indonesia, New Guinea, New Caledonia and Australia....

 is from the Greek for cup. The fruit valves are of a cup shape. divaricata from the Latin which refers to the wide spreading branchlets of the flower panicle.

Description

A small to large tree with dark mature leaves. Achieving a height of over 35 metres tall, though usually seen less than ten metres tall. The base of the tree is somewhat flanged. Smooth greyish thin bark.

The leaves are pinnate and alternate, of two to six pairs of leaflets. Leaf shape lanceolate to ovate, not toothed. Leaflets 5 to 15 cm long, 1.5 to 6 cm wide. Hairy and leathery. Usually not with a sharp point. Shiny green above. Red, pink then yellow new foliage. Leaf stem 3 to 6 mm long. Midrib raised above and below. Leaves distinctly veined. 8 to 12 main lateral leaf veins.

Flowers form between November to April, being cream in colour, on wide and hairy panicle

Panicle

A panicle is a compound raceme, a loose, much-branched indeterminate inflorescence with pedicellate flowers attached along the secondary branches; in other words, a branched cluster of flowers in which the branches are racemes....

s. The fruit is a capsule, with three lobes. Brown oval shaped seeds are enclosed in red fleshy aril. Seeds mature from June to October. Seed germination is reliable. Often as fast as seven days for roots to show.

External links

• http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackdiamondimages/2387474286/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/28733455@N04/2724420935/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackdiamondimages/3929826829/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/27799025@N04/3972505847
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/17674930@N07/4275184239/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/17674930@N07/4275184239/
• http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Arytera~divaricata access date 15 January 2010