Austrobaileya
Encyclopedia
Austrobaileya is a genus
of flowering plant
s native to Queensland
state in northeastern Australia
, consisting of two species
of evergreen
liana
s, A. maculata and A. scandens. Austrobaileya is the sole genus
in the family
Austrobaileyaceae.
Austrobaileya are woody vines. Its main stem is loosely twining, with straight, extending, leafy branches. The leaves are leathery, veined and simple. The leaves produces essential oil
s in spherical ethereal oil cells.
Austrobaileya foliage is damaged by oxidation in direct sunlight, so it tends to grow beneath the rainforest
canopy
, in low-sunlight and very humid conditions. Like many other flowering plants growing in the understory of tropical rainforest, it does not have palisade mesophyll tissue or low leaf photosynthetic rates. It relies strongly on vegetative reproduction for continuation of the species.
A. scandens is found only in the Daintree Rainforest
in Queensland, and is rare and endemic to the area. It is the oldest flowering plant in Australia that requires pollination
. Austrobaileya is one of many primitive plants found in Daintree that have survived millions of years of climatic change and disasters.
A. scandens is well adapted to Daintree, where it can wind around tall woody trees that form the rainforest canopy. The tropical, damp, humid, and low-light understory of the rainforest is perfect for its photosynthesis
, which is adapted to the low-light conditions.
A. scandens can grow up to 15m (50 ft) tall. The plant has a distinctive blue-green color foliage. Austrobaileya has large and solitary flowers that are arranged in a spiral with pale green petals. Flowers are pollinated by flies
. To attract pollinators, A. scandens’ flowers release a rotting fish smell.
A. scandens fruits are apricot-coloured and contain tightly packed seed
s, similar in shape to chestnut
s. The fruit is shaped like a pear
or eggplant. Fruits have been known to grow to sizes of 7 cm in length by 5 cm.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of flowering plant
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
s native to Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
state in northeastern 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...
, consisting of two species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of evergreen
Evergreen
In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...
liana
Liana
A liana is any of various long-stemmed, woody vines that are rooted in the soil at ground level and use trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy to get access to well-lit areas of the forest. Lianas are especially characteristic of tropical moist deciduous...
s, A. maculata and A. scandens. Austrobaileya is the sole genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
in the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Austrobaileyaceae.
Austrobaileya are woody vines. Its main stem is loosely twining, with straight, extending, leafy branches. The leaves are leathery, veined and simple. The leaves produces essential oil
Essential oil
An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils or aetherolea, or simply as the "oil of" the plant from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove...
s in spherical ethereal oil cells.
Austrobaileya foliage is damaged by oxidation in direct sunlight, so it tends to grow beneath the rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
canopy
Canopy (forest)
In biology, the canopy is the aboveground portion of a plant community or crop, formed by plant crowns.For forests, canopy also refers to the upper layer or habitat zone, formed by mature tree crowns and including other biological organisms .Sometimes the term canopy is used to refer to the extent...
, in low-sunlight and very humid conditions. Like many other flowering plants growing in the understory of tropical rainforest, it does not have palisade mesophyll tissue or low leaf photosynthetic rates. It relies strongly on vegetative reproduction for continuation of the species.
A. scandens is found only in the Daintree Rainforest
Daintree Rainforest
The Daintree Rainforest is a tropical rainforest on the north east coast of Queensland, Australia, north of Mossman and Cairns. At around 1200 square kilometres the Daintree is the largest continuous area of tropical rainforest on the Australian continent...
in Queensland, and is rare and endemic to the area. It is the oldest flowering plant in Australia that requires pollination
Pollination
Pollination is the process by which pollen is transferred in plants, thereby enabling fertilisation and sexual reproduction. Pollen grains transport the male gametes to where the female gamete are contained within the carpel; in gymnosperms the pollen is directly applied to the ovule itself...
. Austrobaileya is one of many primitive plants found in Daintree that have survived millions of years of climatic change and disasters.
A. scandens is well adapted to Daintree, where it can wind around tall woody trees that form the rainforest canopy. The tropical, damp, humid, and low-light understory of the rainforest is perfect for its photosynthesis
Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis is a chemical process that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, especially sugars, using the energy from sunlight. Photosynthesis occurs in plants, algae, and many species of bacteria, but not in archaea. Photosynthetic organisms are called photoautotrophs, since they can...
, which is adapted to the low-light conditions.
A. scandens can grow up to 15m (50 ft) tall. The plant has a distinctive blue-green color foliage. Austrobaileya has large and solitary flowers that are arranged in a spiral with pale green petals. Flowers are pollinated by flies
Fließ
Fließ is a municipality in the Landeck district and is located5 km south of Landeck on the upper course of the Inn River. It has 9 hamlets and was already populated at the roman age; the village itself was founded around the 6th century. After a conflagration in 1933 Fließ was restored more...
. To attract pollinators, A. scandens’ flowers release a rotting fish smell.
A. scandens fruits are apricot-coloured and contain tightly packed seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
s, similar in shape to chestnut
Chestnut
Chestnut , some species called chinkapin or chinquapin, is a genus of eight or nine species of deciduous trees and shrubs in the beech family Fagaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.-Species:The chestnut belongs to the...
s. The fruit is shaped like a pear
Pear
The pear is any of several tree species of genus Pyrus and also the name of the pomaceous fruit of these trees. Several species of pear are valued by humans for their edible fruit, but the fruit of other species is small, hard, and astringent....
or eggplant. Fruits have been known to grow to sizes of 7 cm in length by 5 cm.