Dysoxylum
Encyclopedia
Dysoxylum is a flowering plant
genus
in the mahogany family
(Meliaceae
). There are about 70 species
, mainly tree
s, occurring from Australia
, New Zealand
, New Guinea
, New Caledonia
and through to other parts of the western Pacific Ocean
. Australia
n species are known as "rosewood
s", though they are not closely related to the true rosewoods (Dalbergia
) which are legumes.
These trees are important components of the native rainforest
of their range, such as the lowland New Caledonia rain forests
or Australian temperate rainforest.
The Australian species were prized for their wood which is a rich red in colour and was widely used in the furniture
trade. The common name for the Australian species is the rose mahogany. The New Zealand species, Kohekohe
(Dysoxylum spectabile), is sometimes known as New Zealand Mahogany, because its wood is light, strong and polishes to a fine red colour. D. densiflorum, locally known as majegau, is the floral emblem
of Bali
.
The Tooth-billed Pigeon
(Didunculus strigirostris) feeds mainly on the fruits of the Dysoxylum trees growing in its native Samoa
. Foliage of D. muelleri provides food for caterpillar
s of the Hercules Moth (Coscinocera hercules). Among the better-known pathogen
s affecting this genus is Pseudomonas syringae
pv. dysoxylis which often initiates frost damage in Kohekohe
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...
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 mahogany 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...
(Meliaceae
Meliaceae
The Meliaceae, or the Mahogany family, is a flowering plant family of mostly trees and shrubs in the order Sapindales....
). There are about 70 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...
, mainly 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...
s, occurring from 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...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
and through to other parts of the western Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. 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...
n species are known as "rosewood
Rosewood
Rosewood refers to any of a number of richly hued timbers, often brownish with darker veining, but found in many different hues. All rosewoods are strong and heavy, taking an excellent polish, being suitable for guitars, marimbas, turnery , handles, furniture, luxury flooring, etc.In general,...
s", though they are not closely related to the true rosewoods (Dalbergia
Dalbergia
Dalbergia is a large genus of small to medium-size trees, shrubs and lianas in the pea family, Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. The genus has a wide distribution, native to the tropical regions of Central and South America, Africa, Madagascar and southern Asia...
) which are legumes.
These trees are important components of the native rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
of their range, such as the lowland New Caledonia rain forests
New Caledonia rain forests
The New Caledonia rain forests are a terrestrial ecoregion, located in New Caledonia in the South Pacific. It is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion, part of the Australasia ecozone.-Setting:...
or Australian temperate rainforest.
The Australian species were prized for their wood which is a rich red in colour and was widely used in the furniture
Furniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...
trade. The common name for the Australian species is the rose mahogany. The New Zealand species, Kohekohe
Kohekohe
Kohekohe is a medium-sized tree native to New Zealand. It is found in lowland and coastal forests throughout most of North Island and also occurs in the Marlborough Sounds in the north of the South Island. Mature trees grow up to 15m in height, with a trunk up to a metre in diameter...
(Dysoxylum spectabile), is sometimes known as New Zealand Mahogany, because its wood is light, strong and polishes to a fine red colour. D. densiflorum, locally known as majegau, is the floral emblem
Floral emblem
In a number of countries, plants have been chosen as symbols to represent specific geographic areas. Some countries have a country-wide floral emblem; others in addition have symbols representing subdivisions. Different processes have been used to adopt these symbols - some are conferred by...
of Bali
Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
.
The Tooth-billed Pigeon
Tooth-billed Pigeon
The Tooth-billed Pigeon also known as Samoan Pigeon, is a medium-sized, approximately 34 cm long, dark pigeon with reddish feet and bare skin around eye. The underparts, head and neck are blackish with a slight blue-green iridescence, and the tail, wings-coverts and tertials are chestnut,...
(Didunculus strigirostris) feeds mainly on the fruits of the Dysoxylum trees growing in its native Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
. Foliage of D. muelleri provides food for caterpillar
Caterpillar
Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...
s of the Hercules Moth (Coscinocera hercules). Among the better-known pathogen
Pathogen
A pathogen gignomai "I give birth to") or infectious agent — colloquially, a germ — is a microbe or microorganism such as a virus, bacterium, prion, or fungus that causes disease in its animal or plant host...
s affecting this genus is Pseudomonas syringae
Pseudomonas syringae
Pseudomonas syringae is a rod shaped, Gram-negative bacterium with polar flagella. It is a plant pathogen which can infect a wide range of plant species, and exists as over 50 different pathovars, all of which are available to legitimate researches via international culture collections such as the...
pv. dysoxylis which often initiates frost damage in Kohekohe
Selected species
- Dysoxylum bijugum (Labill.) Seem. (= D. patersoni, D. patersonianum)
- Dysoxylum densiflorum – majegau
- Dysoxylum fraserianumDysoxylum fraserianumDysoxylum fraserianum is a large tree species native to NSW and Queensland, Australia....
- Dysoxylum gaudichaudianum (A.Juss.) Miq. (= D. amooroides, D. blancoi, D. decandrum, D. rufum var. glabrescens, D. salutare)
- Dysoxylum huntii Merr. (endemic SamoaSamoaSamoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
), known as Maota mea. - Dysoxylum malabaricum – akil
- Dysoxylum mollissimum Blume (= D. forsteri, D. muelleri)
- Dysoxylum mollissimum subsp. molleDysoxylum mollissimum subsp. molleThe Red Bean or Miva Mahogany is a rainforest tree in the Mahogany family. Dysoxylum mollissimum subsp. molle occurs in tropical, sub-tropical and littoral rainforests in eastern Australia. Distributed from the Macleay River in New South Wales in the south, to Cooktown, tropical Queensland in the...
(Miq.) Mabb. (= D. molle) - Dysoxylum mollissimum ssp. mollissimum
- Dysoxylum mollissimum subsp. molle
- Dysoxylum muelleri
- Dysoxylum oppositifolium F.Muell.
- Dysoxylum pachyphyllumDysoxylum pachyphyllumDysoxylum pachyphyllum is a small tree in the Mahogany family, endemic to Lord Howe Island. It grows at all altitudes on the island, up to 15 metres tall.- References :...
Hemsl. (= D. fraserianum auct. non (A.Juss.) Benth.) - Dysoxylum pettigrewianumDysoxylum pettigrewianumDysoxylum pettigrewianum, commonly known as the Spurwood, is a species of large tropical rainforest tree in the Mahogany family. Found in Queensland, New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Malesia. In Queensland it is found from Cooktown in the north to Paluma in the south.The species was first described...
F.M.Bailey - Dysoxylum richii (A.Gray) C.DC.
- Dysoxylum rufumDysoxylum rufumThe Hairy Rosewood, Dysoxylum rufum is a rainforest tree in the Mahogany family, found in eastern Australia. It occurs on a variety of different soils and rainforest types...
(A.Rich.) Benth. – Hairy Rosewood - Dysoxylum spectabile – KohekoheKohekoheKohekohe is a medium-sized tree native to New Zealand. It is found in lowland and coastal forests throughout most of North Island and also occurs in the Marlborough Sounds in the north of the South Island. Mature trees grow up to 15m in height, with a trunk up to a metre in diameter...
, New Zealand Mahogany - Dysoxylum tenuiflorum A.C.Sm.
Synonyms
The genus Dysoxylum has a number of synonyms:- Alliaria Kuntze (non Heist. ex Fabr.: nom. illeg., nom. superfl., preoccupiedAlliariaAlliaria is a genus of flowering plants in the mustard family.Species include:*Alliaria petiolata...
) - Cambania Comm. ex M.Roem.
- Didymocheton Blume
- Dysoxylon (orth. var.)
- Epicharis Blume
- Goniocheton Blume
- Hartighsea A.Juss.
- Macrocheton (Blume) M.Roem.
- Macrochiton M.Roem. (orth. var.)
- MeliaMelia-People:* Melia Watras , a prominent American violist* Elie Melia , a Georgian Orthodox priest and church historian* Fulvio Melia , an Italian-American physicist* Jimmy Melia , a former English footballer...
L. - Meliadelpha Radlk.
- Prasoxylon M.Roem. (nom. superfl.)
