Cryptocarya foetida, commonly known as stinking cryptocarya or stinking laurel,[1] is a species of flowering plant in the family Lauraceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a small to medium-sized tree with egg-shaped to elliptic leaves, cream coloured, unpleasantly perfumed, tube-shaped flowers, and spherical black to purplish drupes.
| Cryptocarya foetida | |
|---|---|
| |
| Stinking laurel | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Magnoliids |
| Order: | Laurales |
| Family: | Lauraceae |
| Genus: | Cryptocarya |
| Species: | C. foetida
|
| Binomial name | |
| Cryptocarya foetida | |
Description
editCryptocarya foetida is a small or medium-sized tree that typically grows to a height of up to 25 m (82 ft), the stem not butressed with a trunk dbh of 25 cm (9.8 in). The leaves are egg-shaped to elliptic or oval, 8–150 mm (0.31–5.91 in) long and 33–44 mm (1.3–1.7 in) wide on a petiole 6–10 mm (0.24–0.39 in) long. Both surfaces of the leaves are glabrous with prominent veins, and the lower surface is paler. The flowers are arranged in dense panicles that are shorter than the leaves, the perianth tube 1.1–1.2 mm (0.043–0.047 in) long and 1.5–1.7 mm (0.059–0.067 in) wide. The tepals are 1.7–1.9 mm (0.067–0.075 in) long and 0.8–0.9 mm (0.031–0.035 in) wide, the outer anthers 0.7–0.8 mm (0.028–0.031 in) long and 0.5–0.6 mm (0.020–0.024 in) wide, the inner anthers 0.8 mm (0.031 in) long and 0.4 mm (0.016 in) wide. Flowering mainly occurs in February, and the fruit is a spherical black to purplish-black drupe, 8–13 mm (0.31–0.51 in) long and 8–15 mm (0.31–0.59 in) wide.[1][3][4]
Taxonomy
editCryptocarya foetida was first formally described in 1905 by Richard Thomas Baker in the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales.[5][6] The specific epithet (foetida) is a Latin word meaning 'stinking' or 'evil-smelling.[7]
Distribution and habitat
editStinking cryptocarya occurs from east of Gympie in southern Queensland to Iluka in northern New South Wales, where it grows in littoral rainforest on old sand dunes.[3][4]
Conservation status
editThis species of Cryptocarya is listed as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and the New South Wales Government Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016. The main threats to the species are its small population size, clearing and fragmentation of habitat, and weed invasion.[1][4]
Gallery
edit-
Leaves -
Fowers and leaves
References
edit- ^ a b c d "Approved Conservation Advice for Cryptocarya foetida (Stinking Cryptocarya)" (PDF). Australian Government, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
- ^ "Cryptocarya foetida". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
- ^ a b Le Cussan, J.; Hyland, Bernard P.M. "Cryptocarya foetida". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
- ^ a b c Harden, Gwen J. "Cryptocarya foetida". Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
- ^ "Cryptocarya foetida". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
- ^ Baker, Richard T. (1905). "On an undescribed Species of Cryptocarya from Eastern Australia". Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. 30: 517–519. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
- ^ Stearn, William T. (1992). Botanical Latin - History,Grammar, Syntax, Terminology and Vocabulary. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. p. 414.
- Floyd, A.G. (1989). Rainforest Trees of Mainland South-eastern Australia. Inkata Press. ISBN 0-909605-57-2.
External links
edit- "Cryptocarya foetida R.T.Baker". Atlas of Living Australia.