Paratrophis pendulina is a species of flowering plant in the mulberry family, Moraceae. In Australia it is commonly known as whalebone tree, and other common names include the white handlewood, axe-handle wood, grey handlewood and prickly fig. In Hawaii it is known as Hawai'i roughbush or aʻiaʻi in Hawaiian.[2]
| Paratrophis pendulina | |
|---|---|
| |
| Aʻiaʻi on Maui | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Moraceae |
| Genus: | Paratrophis |
| Species: | P. pendulina
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| Binomial name | |
| Paratrophis pendulina (Endl.) E.M.Gardner (2021)
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| Synonyms[1] | |
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It is native to New South Wales and Queensland in eastern Australia, and to New Guinea, the Caroline Islands, Mariana Islands, Norfolk Island, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, the Tubuai Islands, and the Hawaiian Islands.[1] It is usually a small tree or shrub, reaching a height of 12 metres (39 feet) with a trunk diameter of 0.6 m (2 ft).[3]
Description
editThis section relies largely or entirely on a single source. (November 2024) |
The species can be a large shrub or small tree, rarely growing into a large tree 30 metres (98 feet) tall and 40 centimetres (16 inches) in trunk diameter. The trunk is mostly cylindrical or flanged.[ambiguous] The bark is brown, featuring lines of vertical pustules.[4]
The leaves are thin with a long pointed tip. 5 to 8 cm (2 to 3+1⁄4 in) long, alternate and simple. Usually finely toothed. The underside of the leaf is hairy, the top is glossy and mid green in colour. Leaf venation is more evident on the undersurface. Unlike in other species, the lateral veins do not terminate in leaf serrations.[4]
Flowers appear from September to May. Male flowers appear on spikes, female flowers on small clusters or spikes. The fruit matures from January to May, being a yellow coloured berry, 4 to 6 millimetres (1⁄8 to 1⁄4 in) long. The seeds are round, pale in colour and 3 mm in diameter.[4]
Habitat and ecology
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In Australia it is found east of the Great Dividing Range, from near Milton (35° S) in the southern Illawarra district of New South Wales to Cape York Peninsula at Australia's northern tip. It commonly grows in a variety of different types of tropical, subtropical, and warm-temperate rainforest, particularly by streams.[3]
Germination from fresh seed occurs without difficulty within seven weeks. The fruit is eaten by birds including the brown cuckoo dove, green catbird, Lewin's honeyeater, rose crowned fruit dove and topknot pigeon.[4]
In Hawaii it inhabits dry, coastal mesic, mixed mesic and wet forests from sea level to 1,675 m (5,495 ft) elevation.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b Paratrophis pendulina (Endl.) E.M.Gardner. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
- ^ NRCS. "Streblus pendulinus". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 2 December 2015.
- ^ a b Streblus brunonianus. NSW Flora Online. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
- ^ a b c d Floyd, A. G. (1989). Rainforest Trees of Mainland South-eastern Australia (1st ed.). Port Melbourne: Elsevier Australia - Inkata Imprint, copyright Forestry Commission of New South Wales (published 1 December 1989). p. 230. ISBN 0-909605-57-2. Retrieved 3 July 2009. (other publication details, included in citation)
- ^ Little Jr., Elbert L.; Roger G. Skolmen (1989). "Aʻiaʻi, Hawaiian false-mulberry" (PDF). Common Forest Trees of Hawaii (Native and Introduced). United States Forest Service. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
External links
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Media related to Paratrophis pendulina at Wikimedia Commons