Cryptocarya gregsonii explained

Cryptocarya gregsonii, commonly known as native blackbutt, black plum or blackbutt,[1] is a species of flowering plant in the laurel family and is endemic to Lord Howe Island. It is a small tree with thick, leathery, egg-shaped to more or less round leaves, green flowers and fleshy black drupes.

Description

Cryptocarya gregsonii is a small tree that typically grows to a height of up to . The leaves are thick and leathery, egg-shaped to more or less round or elliptic, long and up to wide. The flowers are green, small in number, about in diameter, borne in the axils of upper leaves. Flowering occurs from November to February and the fruit is a black, fleshy, elliptic to oval drupe, long, wide and about thick.

Taxonomy

Cryptocarya gregsonii was first formally described in 1902 by Joseph Maiden in the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales.[2] [3] It was named by Maiden after his friend Jesse Gregson of Newcastle.

Distribution and habitat

Native blackbutt is endemic to Lord Howe Island where it prefers moist, sheltered areas. It is ocally abundant in the southern mountains of the island, from an altitude of to the summit of Mount Gower at .

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Green . Peter S. . Kodela . Phillip G. . Cryptocarya gregsonii . Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. . 15 July 2024.
  2. Web site: Cryptocarya gregsonii . Australian Plant Name Index . 14 July 2024.
  3. Maiden . Joseph . On a new Cryptocarya from Lord Howe Island, together with notes on other plants from that island. . Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales . 1902 . 27 . 3 . 347 . 15 July 2024.