Endiandra floydii is a small sized rainforest

Rainforest

Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...

 tree. Despite the common name of Crystal Creek Walnut, this tree is unrelated to northern hemisphere walnuts, and is a Laurel

Lauraceae

The Lauraceae or Laurel family comprises a group of flowering plants included in the order Laurales. The family contains about 55 genera and over 3500, perhaps as many as 4000, species world-wide, mostly from warm or tropical regions, especially Southeast Asia and South America...

. It is named after the great Australian botanist, Alexander Floyd

Alexander Floyd

Alexander Geoffrey Floyd is an Australian botanist with an expert knowledge of rainforest plants, particularly the rainforest trees of New South Wales. He worked with the New South Wales Forestry Commission, the Department of Forestry in Papua-New Guinea and the National Parks and Wildlife Service...

.

Habitat

The Crystal Creek Walnut is restricted to paleozoic

Paleozoic

The Paleozoic era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon, spanning from roughly...

 metamorphics but with overlying basalt

Basalt

Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...

 soils in the Mount Warning

Mount Warning

Mount Warning is a mountain west-south-west of Murwillumbah, near the border with Queensland in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia...

 area of New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, and a couple of adjacent areas in 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...

. The Crystal Creek Walnut grows in rainforest

Rainforest

Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...

 and is also found as an understorey plant in Brush Box ecotone

Ecotone

An ecotone is a transition area between two biomes but different patches of the landscape, such as forest and grassland. It may be narrow or wide, and it may be local or regional...

 areas, on moderately steep slopes below 430 metres above sea level.

The Crystal Creek Walnut is considered endangered, with a ROTAP

ROTAP

Rare or Threatened Australian Plants, usually abbreviated to ROTAP, is a list of rare or threatened Australian plant taxa. Developed and maintained by the CSIRO, the most recent edition lists 5031 taxa. The list uses a binary coding system based on the IUCN Red List categories for "Presumed...

 rating of 2E.

Description

A small tree, often with coppice shoots at the base. New leaves pinkish brown. The bark is pale to dark grey. Leaves are elliptic to narrow-elliptic, 5–15 cm long, 2–5 cm wide.

Small creamy green flowers form in autumn. The large fruit matures in summer, the size of an apple or a pear. Being red to purplish black when ripe. Germination is not particularly slow and quite reliable.

External links

Photo of A.G.Floyd next to Endiandra floydii

Endiandra floydii

Endiandra floydii is a small sized rainforest tree. Despite the common name of Crystal Creek Walnut, this tree is unrelated to northern hemisphere walnuts, and is a Laurel...

, http://www.flickr.com/photos/42087530@N02/4780556943/