Waterhousea floribunda is a rainforest tree of eastern Australia

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 grows along streams from the Williams River (New South Wales)

Williams River (New South Wales)

The Williams River is a river that flows through Dungog, Clarence Town and Seaham in New South Wales, Australia. The river flows generally south east and south for about to its confluence with the Hunter River, just to the west of the Fitzgerald Bridge at Raymond Terrace. Previously it was known...

 near Dungog (32° S) to Mackay

Mackay, Queensland

Mackay is a city on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is nicknamed the sugar capital of Australia because its region produces more than a third of Australia's cane sugar....

 (21° S) in central eastern 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...

. Known as the Weeping Lilli Pilli, this tree is widely planted as an ornamental. Planted trees from 1827 may be seen at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney

Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney

The Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney, Australia, are the most central of the three major botanical gardens open to the public in Sydney....

. However, these trees are damaged and threatened by the roosting grey headed flying foxes.

Description

A medium to large tree growing to 30 metres tall and a trunk diameter of 75 cm. The trunk is grey, with vertical lines and cracks. Flanged at the base of larger trees. Leaves opposite, not toothed. Wavy edged and thin, 5 to 15 cm long with a long tip. An occasional senescent red leaf may be seen. Small oil dots may be seen under a lens. The midrib is raised under the leaf, but sunken on the upper side.

White flowers appear on panicles in the months of November to January. The fruit is a pale pink or greenish berry

Berry

The botanical definition of a berry is a fleshy fruit produced from a single ovary. Grapes are an example. The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit in which the entire ovary wall ripens into an edible pericarp. They may have one or more carpels with a thin covering and fleshy interiors....

, 14 mm in diameter. Inside is one large seed. Fruit matures from January to April. As with most of the Australian fleshy fruited myrtles, removal of the fleshy aril

Aril

An aril is any specialized outgrowth from the funiculus that covers or is attached to the seed. It is sometimes applied to any appendage or thickening of the seed coat in flowering plants, such as the edible parts of the mangosteen and pomegranate fruit, the mace of the nutmeg seed, or the...

is advised to assist seed germination. Germination is remarkably swift with this species, taking as little as ten days.

Cultivars

Waterhousea floribunda 'Sweeper' is a cultivar with a weeping habit and lush green new growth and a ripple in the leaves. It grows to a height of 10m x 5-8m wide and produces clusters of white flowers in summer. It will grow in full sun to part shade and has and will tolerate light frosts in cool climates.