Rhodamnia whiteana
Encyclopedia
Rhodamnia whiteana, known as the Cliff Malletwood or White's Malletwood is a sub-tropical rainforest
plant of eastern Australia
.
It is named in honour of the botanist C.T.White. The Generic name Rhodamnia is derived from the Greek Rhodon which means "rose". And aminon, "bowl" where the blood of lambs was poured after sacrifice. It refers to the bowl shaped calyx tubes.
Cliff Malletwood occurs on the edge of sub tropical rainforest or dry rainforest. Often associated with Hoop Pine, on shallow basalt
soil in high rainfall areas. Particularly on the state border of New South Wales
and Queensland
.
A small to mid sized tree with a dense canopy, up to 20 metres high and a stem diameter of 35 cm. Often multi-stemmed, with up to 12 stems from the same root base.
Leaves are 5 to 9.5 cm long, 1.5 to 3 cm wide Dark green above, pale or whitish below. The leaf stalk is grooved, 5 to 10 mm long. Oil dots may clearly be seen under a lens. The bark is soft, papery and fissured, grey brown in colour. Small white flowers appear in December to January. The fruit is a berry, starting green, then turning yellow, orange, red, then black; around 10 mm in diameter. The fruit contains six to ten seeds.
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
plant 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...
.
It is named in honour of the botanist C.T.White. The Generic name Rhodamnia is derived from the Greek Rhodon which means "rose". And aminon, "bowl" where the blood of lambs was poured after sacrifice. It refers to the bowl shaped calyx tubes.
Cliff Malletwood occurs on the edge of sub tropical rainforest or dry rainforest. Often associated with Hoop Pine, on shallow 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...
soil in high rainfall areas. Particularly on the state border 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 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...
.
A small to mid sized tree with a dense canopy, up to 20 metres high and a stem diameter of 35 cm. Often multi-stemmed, with up to 12 stems from the same root base.
Leaves are 5 to 9.5 cm long, 1.5 to 3 cm wide Dark green above, pale or whitish below. The leaf stalk is grooved, 5 to 10 mm long. Oil dots may clearly be seen under a lens. The bark is soft, papery and fissured, grey brown in colour. Small white flowers appear in December to January. The fruit is a berry, starting green, then turning yellow, orange, red, then black; around 10 mm in diameter. The fruit contains six to ten seeds.