Elaeocarpus sp. Rocky Creek
Encyclopedia
Elaeocarpus sp. Rocky Creek, known as the Minyon Quandong is a mid-sized rainforest tree growing in a small area on the south of the Mount Warning
caldera
in northern New South Wales
, Australia. A single wild tree has also been discovered in the north of the Caldera approximately 35 km north of the other populations. This tree occurs in Brush Box ecotone
areas and warm temperate rainforest. The Minyon Quandong is naturally rare and considered endangered with extinction, The species is listed as Endangered under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act and Federal Environment Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act.
white with small hairs, particularly on the leaf veins. The leaf stem is 3 to 6 mm long. Old leaves to orange to dull red before falling.
Flowers are greenish cream and appear in racemes, 2 to 5 cm long. In autumn the fruit matures, being a round shaped blue drupe
, 20–35 mm in diameter. The blue skin covers a highly fiberous "flesh". The central "stone" is not grooved, but somewhat sculptured in appearance. Like many Australian Elaeocarpus, germination from seed is slow and difficult.
Mount Warning
Mount Warning is a mountain west-south-west of Murwillumbah, near the border with Queensland in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia...
caldera
Caldera
A caldera is a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption, such as the one at Yellowstone National Park in the US. They are sometimes confused with volcanic craters...
in northern New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia. A single wild tree has also been discovered in the north of the Caldera approximately 35 km north of the other populations. This tree occurs in Brush Box ecotone
Ecotone
An ecotone is a transition area between two biomes but different patches of the landscape, such as forest and grassland. It may be narrow or wide, and it may be local or regional...
areas and warm temperate rainforest. The Minyon Quandong is naturally rare and considered endangered with extinction, The species is listed as Endangered under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act and Federal Environment Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act.
Description
Leaves are roundish or obovate, 7 to 15 cm long, 4 to 8 cm wide. Leaf edges are somewhat wavy toothed (crenate), other leaves not toothed. The underleaf is a glaucousGlaucous
Glaucous is used to describe the pale grey or bluish-green appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the Glaucous Gull , Glaucous-winged Gull , Glaucous Macaw , and Glaucous...
white with small hairs, particularly on the leaf veins. The leaf stem is 3 to 6 mm long. Old leaves to orange to dull red before falling.
Flowers are greenish cream and appear in racemes, 2 to 5 cm long. In autumn the fruit matures, being a round shaped blue drupe
Drupe
In botany, a drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a shell of hardened endocarp with a seed inside. These fruits develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovaries...
, 20–35 mm in diameter. The blue skin covers a highly fiberous "flesh". The central "stone" is not grooved, but somewhat sculptured in appearance. Like many Australian Elaeocarpus, germination from seed is slow and difficult.