Pararchidendron pruinosum is an Australian rainforest tree growing from the Shoalhaven River

Shoalhaven River

The Shoalhaven River is a river rising from the Southern Tablelands and flowing into the ocean near Nowra on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia.- History :...

 (34° S) in 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...

 to Herberton (17° S) in north Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

. It's also found in New Guinea

New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

 and Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

. Common names include Snow-wood, Tulip Siris and Monkey's Earrings. The habitat of the Snow-wood is tropical, sub-tropical, warm temperate, littoral and riverine rainforest. It can be seen growing on sand within earshot of Seven Mile Beach, New South Wales

Seven Mile Beach, New South Wales

thumb|300px|Seven Mile Beach at sunsetSeven Mile Beach is a long beach with strong historical reference just south of Gerringong in the Shoalhaven area of New South Wales, Australia....

.

Description

Snow-wood is a small to medium sized tree, reaching 15 metres in height and a 35 cm in trunk diameter. The reddish trunk and lacy pinnate leaves give a pleasing appearance.

The trunk of Pararchidendron pruinosum is cylindrical, and not buttressed at the base. The bark is dark reddish brown patterned with corky pustules.

Leaves

The leaves are alternate and bipinnate. The main leaf stalk has one to three pairs of secondary leaf stalks, opposite or nearly so on the main stalk. Five to eleven leaflets alternatively arranged on the secondary leaf stalks. Leaves entire, lanceolate, four to five cm long, 13 to 20 mm broad. The tip tapers to a point, the leaf base is oblique

Oblique

Oblique may refer to:*Oblique angle, in geometry, an angle that is not a multiple of 90 degrees*Oblique angle, synonym for Dutch angle, a cinematographic technique*Oblique , by jazz vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson...

. Smooth and green both surfaces, slightly paler below. Leaf venation is obvious, with a raised midrib evident on both upper and lower sides.

Flowers and fruit

Flowers fluffy white or greenish, fragrant, though later turning yellow. Flowering period is from October to January.

The fruit pod matures from February to June. Resembling Acacia

Acacia

Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...

fruit pods. Very twisted, and flattened. Seeds are black, shiny and mostly flat, oval in shape. Scarification of the seeds is advised to assist germination, which is slow but fairly reliable.