Stenocarpus cryptocarpus
Encyclopedia
Stenocarpus cryptocarpus, known as the Giant Leaf Stenocarpus, is a species of plant
in the Proteaceae
family. It is endemic to north Queensland
, where it is restricted to the wet rainforest in the McDowell Ranges. It is notable for its juvenile leaves, which may reach 115 cm (4 ft) in length.
Stenocarpus cryptocarpus was first described in 1988 by botanists Don Foreman and Bernard Hyland, having been collected from North Queensland. Its specific name is derived from the Ancient Greek
crypto- "hidden", and carpos "fruit". It is one of 25 species of tree in the genus Stenocarpus
from rainforests of eastern Australia and New Caledonia.
It grows as a single-trunked buttressed tree to 25 m (80 ft) tall. Its green juvenile leaves are compound (bipinnate) and lobulated, and may reach 115 cm (4 ft) in length. The adult leaves are simple and obovate and measure 9 to 14 cm (4-5.5 in) in length and are on petioles 3-8 cm long. The wheel-shaped inflorescences are axillary (located towards or on the end of branches) and are composed of 20-30 individual flowers, and are white and fragrant, and resemble those of its better known relative S. sinuatus
. The flowers are followed by smooth follicles, or seed pods, 10 -13 cm (4-5 in) in length.
Stenocarpus cryptocarpus grows in wet rainforests from 10 to 1000 m (35- 3500 ft) in altitude, where it is a canopy tree. It is restricted to suitable habitat between Mount Bartle Frere
and Big Tableland in the McDowell Ranges in North Queensland. Its range lies within Wooroonooran National Park
.
It is almost unknown in cultivation.
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
in the Proteaceae
Proteaceae
Proteaceae is a family of flowering plants distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises about 80 genera with about 1600 species. Together with the Platanaceae and Nelumbonaceae they make up the order Proteales. Well known genera include Protea, Banksia, Embothrium, Grevillea,...
family. It is endemic to 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...
, where it is restricted to the wet rainforest in the McDowell Ranges. It is notable for its juvenile leaves, which may reach 115 cm (4 ft) in length.
Stenocarpus cryptocarpus was first described in 1988 by botanists Don Foreman and Bernard Hyland, having been collected from North Queensland. Its specific name is derived from the Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
crypto- "hidden", and carpos "fruit". It is one of 25 species of tree in the genus Stenocarpus
Stenocarpus
Stenocarpus is a genus of around 25 species of woody trees or shrubs of the family Proteaceae, occurring in rainforests of Eastern and monsoonal areas of Northern and North-Western Australia with 2 extending into New Guinea and the Aru Islands, with the greatest diversity occurring in New...
from rainforests of eastern Australia and New Caledonia.
It grows as a single-trunked buttressed tree to 25 m (80 ft) tall. Its green juvenile leaves are compound (bipinnate) and lobulated, and may reach 115 cm (4 ft) in length. The adult leaves are simple and obovate and measure 9 to 14 cm (4-5.5 in) in length and are on petioles 3-8 cm long. The wheel-shaped inflorescences are axillary (located towards or on the end of branches) and are composed of 20-30 individual flowers, and are white and fragrant, and resemble those of its better known relative S. sinuatus
Stenocarpus sinuatus
Stenocarpus sinuatus, known as the Firewheel Tree is an Australian rainforest tree in the Protea family. The range of natural distribution is in various rainforest types from the Nambucca River in New South Wales to the Atherton Tableland in tropical Queensland...
. The flowers are followed by smooth follicles, or seed pods, 10 -13 cm (4-5 in) in length.
Stenocarpus cryptocarpus grows in wet rainforests from 10 to 1000 m (35- 3500 ft) in altitude, where it is a canopy tree. It is restricted to suitable habitat between Mount Bartle Frere
Mount Bartle Frere
Mount Bartle Frere is the highest mountain in Queensland at an elevation of 1622 metres. The mountain was named after Sir Henry Bartle Frere, a British colonial administrator and then president of the Royal Geographical Society by George Elphinstone Dalrymple in 1873. Bartle Frere was British...
and Big Tableland in the McDowell Ranges in North Queensland. Its range lies within Wooroonooran National Park
Wooroonooran National Park
Wooroonooran is a national park in Queensland , 1367 km northwest of Brisbane, between Innisfail and Cairns.The park is one of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area series of national parks, and is a gazetted World Heritage site...
.
It is almost unknown in cultivation.