Daphnandra johnsonii
Encyclopedia
Daphnandra johnsonii, the Illawarra Socketwood is a rare rainforest
tree in the Illawarra
district of eastern Australia
.
in the south to Scarborough, New South Wales
in the northern Illawarra
(34° S).
family Atherospermataceae
, the Illawarra Socketwood is endangered by extinction. Formerly considered the southernmost population of Daphnandra micrantha
, the Australian Socketwood. Recently it has been recognised as a separate species. The type specimen collected in the Illawarra
district by L.A.S. Johnson
, after whom the species was named, by Richard Schodde. The generic name Daphnandra
refers to a similarity of the anthers of the Bay Laurel
. Greek daphne refers to the Bay Laurel, and andros from the Greek for man. The term "socketwood" is from the related species Daphnandra apatela
. A feature of which is where larger branchlets meet the main trunk. This joining resembles a "ball and socket" type joint.
s. Wider and flatter at the nodes. Leaf scars evident. Leaf buds with soft hairs.
Leaf venation is more evident under the leaf. Lateral veins not clear on the top surface. Mid rib raised both sides of the leaf. Six or seven pairs of lateral veins. Leaf stems 2 to 7 mm long, and smooth. Old leaves go pale and turn yellow on the stem.
The scent of the leaf is more faint and "soapy" on the Illawarra Socketwood. Leaves of Common Sassafras are more aromatic, usually less coarsely toothed and the mid rib is sunken on the upper surface. Common Sassafras leaves thicker and heavier to touch.
s or raceme
s, 3 to 8 cm long. The sepals and petals are around 1 to 3 mm. The fruiting capsule is woody and hairless, around 15 to 20 mm long. Opening in two sections. Feathery seeds ripen between August and October.
Plants often don't produce fertile fruit in the wild and these fruit are shorter and rounder than the viable fruit. These short fruit appear to be galled and contain no seed but contain lots of silky hairs or plumes that are normally attached to the seeds. Some trees contain a mixture of both short, galled fruits and long fertile fruits, most trees seem to only produce galled fruits and trees that produce only fertile fruits are rare.
It also has a limited ability to colonize new areas. Its main survival strategy is the ability to sucker
and coppice.
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
tree in the Illawarra
Illawarra
Illawarra is a region in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is a coastal region situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the Shoalhaven or South Coast region. It encompasses the cities of Wollongong, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven and the town of Kiama. The central region contains Lake...
district 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...
.
Conservation & Threats
Most of the 41 sites are under immediate threat from clearing for agriculture, urban expansion, feral animals, weeds, inappropriate use of fire and herbicide, quarrying, and road construction. Only two small populations are conserved in the reserve system. The biggest and healthiest populations are on private property.Habitat
Usually occurring at less than 150 metres above sea level, on volcanic soils in sub tropical rainforest. Occasionally up to 350 metres above sea level. Often by creeks, or dry rocky scree slopes. Also in disturbed forest and rainforest margins. Distributed from Berry, New South WalesBerry, New South Wales
Berry is a small Australian town in the Shoalhaven region of the NSW South Coast in the state of New South Wales, located south of the state capital, Sydney. The indigenous people of the area were the Wodi Wodi people. In the 1810s, George William Evans, Government Surveyor, reported on the Berry...
in the south to Scarborough, New South Wales
Scarborough, New South Wales
Scarborough is a small northern seaside suburb of Wollongong on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia. It sits in the northern Illawarra region on a narrow stretch between the Illawarra escarpment and sea cliffs....
in the northern Illawarra
Illawarra
Illawarra is a region in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is a coastal region situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the Shoalhaven or South Coast region. It encompasses the cities of Wollongong, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven and the town of Kiama. The central region contains Lake...
(34° S).
Naming & Taxonomy
A member of the ancient GondwanaGondwana
In paleogeography, Gondwana , originally Gondwanaland, was the southernmost of two supercontinents that later became parts of the Pangaea supercontinent. It existed from approximately 510 to 180 million years ago . Gondwana is believed to have sutured between ca. 570 and 510 Mya,...
family Atherospermataceae
Atherospermataceae
The Atherospermataceae, commonly known as the southern sassafrases, are a family of broadleaf evergreen trees and shrubs. The family includes 14 species in seven genera. The atherosperms are native to the southern hemisphere, with two species native to southern Chile and 12 species native to...
, the Illawarra Socketwood is endangered by extinction. Formerly considered the southernmost population of Daphnandra micrantha
Daphnandra micrantha
Daphnandra micrantha, the Socketwood or Manning River Socketwood is a rainforest tree in eastern Australia. It grows near streams in various types of rainforest. Restricted to the Manning River and Hastings River valleys of northern eastern New South Wales...
, the Australian Socketwood. Recently it has been recognised as a separate species. The type specimen collected in the Illawarra
Illawarra
Illawarra is a region in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is a coastal region situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the Shoalhaven or South Coast region. It encompasses the cities of Wollongong, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven and the town of Kiama. The central region contains Lake...
district by L.A.S. Johnson
Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson
Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson, known as Lawrie Johnson, was an Australian taxonomic botanist. He worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, for the whole of his professional career, as a botanist , Director and Honorary Research Associate .Alone or in collaboration with colleagues, he...
, after whom the species was named, by Richard Schodde. The generic name Daphnandra
Daphnandra
Daphnandra is a genus of shrubs and trees in the family Atherospermataceae, or formerly Monimiaceae. The genus is endemic to Australia.There are six species, occurring in New South Wales and Queensland:...
refers to a similarity of the anthers of the Bay Laurel
Bay Laurel
The bay laurel , also known as sweet bay, bay tree, true laurel, Grecian laurel, laurel tree, or simply laurel, is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub with green, glossy leaves, native to the Mediterranean region. It is the source of the bay leaf used in cooking...
. Greek daphne refers to the Bay Laurel, and andros from the Greek for man. The term "socketwood" is from the related species Daphnandra apatela
Daphnandra apatela
Daphnandra apatela, the Socketwood, Light Yellowwood or Canary Socketwood is a common rainforest tree in eastern Australia. It grows in the more fertile alluvial soils and basaltic soils...
. A feature of which is where larger branchlets meet the main trunk. This joining resembles a "ball and socket" type joint.
Description
A small to medium sized tree. Growing to around 20 metres tall and a stem diameter of 30 cm, with a broad and shady crown. The trunk is beige in colour, cylindrical with little buttressing. Sometimes seen with coppice leaves at the base. The bark is fairly smooth with some raised pustules of a darker colour. Branchlets are fairly thick with lenticelLenticel
A lenticel is an airy aggregation of cells within the structural surfaces of the stems, roots, and other parts of vascular plants. It functions as a pore, providing a medium for the direct exchange of gasses between the internal tissues and atmosphere, thereby bypassing the periderm, which would...
s. Wider and flatter at the nodes. Leaf scars evident. Leaf buds with soft hairs.
Leaves
Leaves ovate or elliptic in shape, 6 to 12 cm long, 1.5 cm to 6 cm wide with a sharply angled tip. Leaves are opposite on the stem, prominently toothed, 7 to 9 teeth on each side of the leaf. The bottom third of the leaf is without leaf serrations. The point of the leaf base to the first serration is almost a straight line. The bottom of the leaf is glossy pale green, the top side is a dull dark green.Leaf venation is more evident under the leaf. Lateral veins not clear on the top surface. Mid rib raised both sides of the leaf. Six or seven pairs of lateral veins. Leaf stems 2 to 7 mm long, and smooth. Old leaves go pale and turn yellow on the stem.
Leaf comparison with Common Sassafras
Leaves similar to the related Common Sassafras, (Doryphora sassafras). There are one or two teeth per centimetre on the Illawarra Socketwood. The mid rib is raised above and below on the Illawarra Socketwood. Lateral veins of the Common Sassafras are at a less acute angle than the Illawarra Socketwood. Illawarra Socketwood lateral veins are sharply angled at around 40 degrees in relation to the mid rib of the leaf.The scent of the leaf is more faint and "soapy" on the Illawarra Socketwood. Leaves of Common Sassafras are more aromatic, usually less coarsely toothed and the mid rib is sunken on the upper surface. Common Sassafras leaves thicker and heavier to touch.
Flowers & Fruit
Tiny flowers appear in spring, on long flower stems. Flowers white with pinkish red margins. They form on paniclePanicle
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 or raceme
Raceme
A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
s, 3 to 8 cm long. The sepals and petals are around 1 to 3 mm. The fruiting capsule is woody and hairless, around 15 to 20 mm long. Opening in two sections. Feathery seeds ripen between August and October.
Regeneration
Healthy seeds germinate readily within a month of sowing.Plants often don't produce fertile fruit in the wild and these fruit are shorter and rounder than the viable fruit. These short fruit appear to be galled and contain no seed but contain lots of silky hairs or plumes that are normally attached to the seeds. Some trees contain a mixture of both short, galled fruits and long fertile fruits, most trees seem to only produce galled fruits and trees that produce only fertile fruits are rare.
It also has a limited ability to colonize new areas. Its main survival strategy is the ability to sucker
Basal shoot
A basal shoot, root sprout, adventitious shoot, water sprout or sucker is a shoot or cane which grows from a bud at the base of a tree or shrub or from its roots. This shoot then becomes, or takes the form of, a singular plant. A plant that produces suckers is referred to as surculose...
and coppice.
External links
- name change http://www.rainforests.net.au/updates%5Ball-publications%5D/rainforest-trees-shrubs-20091018.pdf
- http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/nature/recoveryplanDaphnandraIllawarra.pdf
- L.A.S. Johnson http://www.flickr.com/photos/17674930@N07/3992450414/
- alkaloids http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/CH9782539.htm
- government listing: http://www.comlaw.gov.au/ComLaw/Legislation/LegislativeInstrument1.nsf/0/1934B9AB33C1A144CA25753700147714/$file/NamechangesInstrument724.pdf
- http://threatenedspecies.environment.nsw.gov.au/tsprofile/profile.aspx?id=10201