Cryptocarya lividula, commonly known as blue laurel,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Lauraceae and is endemic to north Queensland. It is a tree with lance-shaped to egg-shaped leaves, creamy green, unpleasantly perfumed flowers, and more or less spherical, purplish-black drupes.
| Cryptocarya lividula | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Magnoliids |
| Order: | Laurales |
| Family: | Lauraceae |
| Genus: | Cryptocarya |
| Species: | C. lividula
|
| Binomial name | |
| Cryptocarya lividula | |
Description
editCryptocarya lividula is a tree that typically grows to a height of up to 25 m (82 ft), its stems usually buttressed. Its leaves are lance-shaped to egg-shaped, 60–93 mm (2.4–3.7 in) long and 19–40 mm (0.7–1.6 in) wide with a conspicuous, bluish sheen, on a petiole 4–8 mm (0.16–0.31 in) long. The flowers are arranged in panicles in leaf axils shorter than the leaves. They are creamy green and unpleasantly perfumed. The perianth tube is 0.8–1.6 mm (0.03–0.06 in) long, 1.4–1.9 mm (0.06–0.07 in) wide. The outer anthers are 0.7–1.0 mm (0.03–0.04 in) long and 0.6–0.7 mm (0.02–0.03 in) wide, the inner anthers 0.8–1.0 mm (0.03–0.04 in) long and 0.5–0.6 mm (0.02–0.02 in) wide. Flowering occurs from November to January, and the fruit is a purplish-black, more or less spherical drupe, 11.5–14 mm (0.5–0.6 in) long and wide with cream-coloured cotyledons.[3][4]
Taxonomy
editCryptocarya lividula was first formally described in 1989 by Bernard Hyland in Australian Systematic Botany from specimens collected in 1980.[5] The specific epithet (lividula) means 'a dull, bluish grey'.[6]
Distribution and habitat
editCryptocarya lividula grows in rainforest at altitudes between 180 and 1,000 m (590 and 3,280 ft) between Cooktown and Koombooloomba in north Queensland.[3]
Conservation status
editThis Cryptocarya is listed as of "least concern" under the Queensland Government Nature Conservation Act 1992.[2]
References
edit
- ^ "Cryptocarya lividula". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
- ^ a b "Cryptocarya lividula". Queensland Government Department of Environment and Science. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
- ^ a b Le Cussan, J.; Hyland, Bernard P.M. "Cryptocarya lividula". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
- ^ "Cryptocarya lividula". Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
- ^ "Cryptocarya lividula". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
- ^ George, Alex; Sharr, Francis (2021). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (4th ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 241. ISBN 9780958034180.