Eidothea hardeniana
Encyclopedia
Eidothea hardeniana, commonly known as the Nightcap Oak, is a tree
to 40 m (130 ft) tall in the family Proteaceae
discovered as a new species in 2000 by botanist Robert Kooyman. The species is listed as Critically Endangered
on the Australian Commonwealth EPBC Act and Endangered on the NSW Threatened Species Act. Named in honour of the botanist Gwen Harden. Cladistic analysis now suggests it represents a basal branch of the Proteoid clade of the Proteaceae.
covered bark typical of many species in the Warm Temperate Rainforests. Often a ring of coppice shoots surrounds the base of an adult tree, coppice and seedling leaves have spiny marginal teeth, while adult leaves have no teeth.
Flowers are cream in clusters and smell of aniseed.
Fruits are large and rounded with a yellow green skin and a hard nut inside.
The walls of the nut are ribbed a feature unique to this genus in the family.
The seed has a white center and it probably contains poisonous cyanogenic compounds like some species of Macadamia
. These toxins do not deter rodents from eating through the hard nut and devouring the seeds, limiting the regeneration of this plant.
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...
to 40 m (130 ft) tall in the family Proteaceae
Proteaceae
Proteaceae is a family of flowering plants distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises about 80 genera with about 1600 species. Together with the Platanaceae and Nelumbonaceae they make up the order Proteales. Well known genera include Protea, Banksia, Embothrium, Grevillea,...
discovered as a new species in 2000 by botanist Robert Kooyman. The species is listed as Critically Endangered
Critically Endangered
Critically Endangered is the highest risk category assigned by the IUCN Red List for wild species. Critically Endangered means that a species' numbers have decreased, or will decrease, by 80% within three generations....
on the Australian Commonwealth EPBC Act and Endangered on the NSW Threatened Species Act. Named in honour of the botanist Gwen Harden. Cladistic analysis now suggests it represents a basal branch of the Proteoid clade of the Proteaceae.
Distribution and habitat
Known from only a single creek catchment in Warm Temperate Rainforest in the Nightcap Range Northern NSW Australia. It grows on relatively poor, acidic volcanic soils in an area of a high rainfall. There are only around 100 wild plants known. At least one plant is in cultivation in the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney.Description
E. hardeniana trees have pale lichenLichen
Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...
covered bark typical of many species in the Warm Temperate Rainforests. Often a ring of coppice shoots surrounds the base of an adult tree, coppice and seedling leaves have spiny marginal teeth, while adult leaves have no teeth.
Flowers are cream in clusters and smell of aniseed.
Fruits are large and rounded with a yellow green skin and a hard nut inside.
The walls of the nut are ribbed a feature unique to this genus in the family.
The seed has a white center and it probably contains poisonous cyanogenic compounds like some species of Macadamia
Macadamia
Macadamia is a genus of nine species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae, with a disjunct distribution native to eastern Australia , New Caledonia and Sulawesi in Indonesia ....
. These toxins do not deter rodents from eating through the hard nut and devouring the seeds, limiting the regeneration of this plant.
External links
- EPBC Listing
- Species Recovery Plan
- Botany and Ecology of the Nightcap Oak, Australian Plant Online