Sarcopetalum harveyanum
Encyclopedia
Sarcopetalum harveyanum, known as the Pearl Vine is a common plant found mostly in coastal areas of eastern Australia
. It can be found in or around rainforest
s, and is also seen in eucalyptus
forests.
The leaf stalk is attached under the surface of the leaf. The leaves are heart shaped with raised leaf veins on both surfaces of the leaf. Seven veins branch out from the leaf base (A mid rib and three pairs of veins). The inner pair of veins extend almost all the way up the leaf.
Leaves are 4 to 12 cm long and 2 to 9 cm wide. The leaf stem is 1 to 8 cm long. The swelling at the base of the leaf stem is enlarged and evident.
Red or yellow flowers occur on raceme
s in summer. These racemes often grow from old wood on the vine. The flowers are tiny and seldom seen, petals 3 mm long. The fruit is a red drupe
, 5 to 8 mm in diameter. They resemble a miniature bunch of grapes.
Pearl Vine is food for the larvae of the moths Eudocima salaminia
and Eudocima fullonia.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. It can be found in or around rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
s, and is also seen in eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...
forests.
The leaf stalk is attached under the surface of the leaf. The leaves are heart shaped with raised leaf veins on both surfaces of the leaf. Seven veins branch out from the leaf base (A mid rib and three pairs of veins). The inner pair of veins extend almost all the way up the leaf.
Leaves are 4 to 12 cm long and 2 to 9 cm wide. The leaf stem is 1 to 8 cm long. The swelling at the base of the leaf stem is enlarged and evident.
Red or yellow flowers occur on raceme
Raceme
A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
s in summer. These racemes often grow from old wood on the vine. The flowers are tiny and seldom seen, petals 3 mm long. The fruit is a red 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...
, 5 to 8 mm in diameter. They resemble a miniature bunch of grapes.
Pearl Vine is food for the larvae of the moths Eudocima salaminia
Eudocima salaminia
Eudocima salaminia is a moth of the Noctuidae family. It is found from India across south-east Asia to the Pacific Islands. In Australia it occurs in the Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales.The wingspan is about 80 mm....
and Eudocima fullonia.