Tasmannia vickeryana explained

Tasmannia vickeryana, commonly known as Baw Baw pepper,[1] is a species of flowering plant in the family Winteraceae and is endemic to Victoria in Australia. It has narrowly lance-shaped leaves, sometimes with the narrower end towards the base, and male and female flowers on separate plants, the male flowers with 8 to 26 stamens and the female flowers with up to 5 carpels. The fruit is dark red and contains 2 to 5 seeds.

Description

Tasmannia vickeryana is a shrub that typically grows to a height of and has reddish-brown branchlets. Its leaves are lance-shaped, sometimes with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide, on a petiole long. Male and female flowers are borne on separate plants and usually have 2 egg-shaped to oblong petals long and about wide. Male flowers are borne on a pedicel long and have 8 to 26 stamens, and female flowers are on a pedicel long with up to 6 carpels with 3 to 6 ovules. Flowering occurs in December and January and the fruit is a spherical to oval, dark red berry long with 2 to 5 seeds long.[2] [3]

Taxonomy

This species was first described in 1943 by Albert Charles Smith who gave it the name Drimys vickeryana in the Journal of the Arnold Arboretum.[4] [5] In 1969, Smith transferred the species to Tasmannia as T. vickeryana in the journal Taxon.[6]

Distribution and habitat

Baw Baw pepper grows in snow gum woodland in the Baw Baw Range at altitudes between .

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Raleigh . Ruth E. . Entwisle . Timothy J. . Tasmannia vickeryana . Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria . 19 May 2024.
  2. Web site: Guymer . Gordon P. . Kodela . Phillip G. . Tasmannia vickeryana . Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra . 19 May 2024.
  3. Raleigh . Ruth A. . Ladiges . Pauline Y. . Entwisle . Timothy J. . Drinnan . Andrew N. . Morphometric studies in the genus Tasmannia (Winteraceae) in Victoria, Australia. . Muelleria . 1994 . 8 . 2 . 255 . 19 May 2024.
  4. Web site: Drimys vickeryana . Australian Plant Name Index (APNI) . 16 May 2024.
  5. Smith . Albert Charles . Taxonomic notes on the old World species of Winteraceae. . Journal of the Arnold Arboretum . 1943 . 24 . 2 . 130–131 . 19 May 2024.
  6. Web site: Drimys vickeryana . Australian Plant Name Index (APNI . 19 May 2024.