Cupaniopsis baileyana is a species of flowering

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...

 tree

Tree

A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...

 in the soapberry

Sapindaceae

Sapindaceae, also known as the soapberry family, is a family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales. There are about 140-150 genera with 1400-2000 species, including maple, horse chestnut and lychee....

 family. It is native to 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...

. Common names include White Tamarind and Toothed Tuckeroo. The species name honours the botanist F.M.Bailey.

The habitat is on the edge of rainforest on fertile soils, at mid to high altitudes. Sometimes also seen at lower altitudes. It can be a pioneer species, growing in areas of forest disturbance.

The range of natural distribution is from Newcastle, New South Wales

Newcastle, New South Wales

The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...

 to Main Range National Park

Main Range National Park

Main Range is a mountain range and a national park in Queensland , 85 km southwest of Brisbane. It is part of the World Heritage Site Gondwana Rainforests of Australia . It protects the western part of a semicircle of mountains in South East Queensland known as the Scenic Rim...

, 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...

.

Description

A small tree, to 13 metres tall with a dense crown. The trunk is mostly round, but with flanges on some individuals. Bark is smooth, grey or brown. Small branches green, fairly smooth and thick, with leaf scars.

Compound leaves are 17 to 30 cm long with 8 to 20 leaflets. Leaflets narrow oblong or elliptic to reverse lanceolate in shape. Toothed or without teeth, 4 to 9 cm long, and 1 to 2.5 cm wide. The main midrib of the leaf is raised on both sides, as are the many lateral veins. Domatia

Domatia

Domatia are tiny chambers produced by plants that house arthropods.Domatia differ from galls in that they are produced by the plant rather than being induced by their inhabitants...

 often occur where the main leaf vein meets the lateral veins. This distinguishes this species from Cupaniopsis serrata and Cupaniopsis flagelliformis.

Flowers and fruit

Cream flowers form on 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 in March. The fruit is reddish brown capsule with three lobes, around 2 cm in diameter. Shiny black/brown seeds are almost covered by yellow to orange coloured 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...

. Fruit matures from November to January.