Beilschmiedia elliptica, known as the Grey Walnut is a rainforest laurel growing in eastern Australia. The range of natural distribution is from Forster, New South Wales

Forster, New South Wales

Forster is a large coastal town in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Great Lakes Council LGA, about north-north-east of Sydney. It is immediately adjacent to its twin, Tuncurry, which is the smaller of the two towns...

 (32° S) to Fraser Island (25° S) in south eastern 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...

. Beilschmiedia elliptica grows in warm temperate and sub tropical rainforests. Not a rare species, but seldom identified in the rainforest.

Description

A medium to large tree reaching to 30 metres tall and 90 cm in trunk diameter. The cylindrical trunk is reddish brown or grey, with raised dots and depressions in the bark. The tree's base is somewhat buttressed or flanged.

Shoots and stems hairy. The elliptic shaped leaves are alternate and not toothed, 8 to 10 cm long and 2 to 3 cm wide. Leaf venation is prominent on both sides, with a raised midrib and prominent intramarginal vein.

Cream flowers form in panicles from August to October. The fruit is a black round drupe

Drupe

In botany, a drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a shell of hardened endocarp with a seed inside. These fruits develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovaries...

 with a glaucous

Glaucous

Glaucous is used to describe the pale grey or bluish-green appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the Glaucous Gull , Glaucous-winged Gull , Glaucous Macaw , and Glaucous...

 bloom, 12 mm long with a single seed inside. Fruit ripe from February to April. As with most Australian laurels, removal of the fleshy aril

Aril

An aril is any specialized outgrowth from the funiculus that covers or is attached to the seed. It is sometimes applied to any appendage or thickening of the seed coat in flowering plants, such as the edible parts of the mangosteen and pomegranate fruit, the mace of the nutmeg seed, or the...

 is advised to assist seed germination, which is slow but fairly reliable with Beilschmiedia elliptica.

The fruit is eaten by a variety of birds, including Rose-crowned Fruit Dove, Topknot Pigeon

Topknot Pigeon

The Topknot Pigeon is a pigeon native to Australia. It is also known by the name of "Flock Pigeon".-Description:...

 and White-headed pigeon

White-headed Pigeon

The White-headed Pigeon is a pigeon native to the east coast of Australia, belonging to the same genus as the domestic pigeon C. livia....

.