Wilkiea cordata explained

Wilkiea cordata is a species of flowering plant in the family Monimiaceae, and is endemic to north-east Queensland. It is a shrub or small tree with oblong leaves, male and female flowers on separate plants, male flowers with stamens in 2 pairs, female flowers with about 25 carpels, and the fruit is an oval drupe with a yellow receptacle with an orange tinge.

Description

Wilkiea cordata is a shrub or small tree that typically grows to a height of . Its leaves are oblong, long and wide on a petiole long. The base of the leaves is heart-shaped to almost stem-clasping, the edges sometimes serrated and the midrib is prominent on both surfaces. Male and female flowers are borne on separate plants. Male flowers are borne in leaf axils sometimes in clusters of up to 3, long, with 6 tepals, the individual flowers on a pedicel long, with stamens in 2 pairs. Female flowers are usually borne singly in leaf axils, or on the ends of branchlets, the flowers more or less spherical, long and in diameter, on a pedicel long, with about 25 carpels. Flowering occurs from January to March and the fruit is a purplish-black or black drupe, long and wide, with a yellow fruiting receptacle tinged with orange.[1]

Taxonomy

Wilkiea cordata was first formally described in 2007 by Trevor Paul Whiffin in Flora of Australia, from specimens collected on Mount Haig.[2]

Distribution and habitat

This species of Wilkiea grows in the understorey of rainforest at altitudes from from the ranges near the Atherton Tableland.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Whiffin . Trevor P. . Foreman . Don B. . Wilkiea cordata . Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. . 9 May 2024.
  2. Web site: Wilkiea cordata . Australian Plant Name Index (APNI) . . 9 May 2024.