| Mitrephora diversifolia | |
|---|---|
| |
| In Mount Coot-tha Botanic Gardens | |
Scientific classification
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Magnoliids |
| Order: | Magnoliales |
| Family: | Annonaceae |
| Genus: | Mitrephora |
| Species: | M. diversifolia
|
| Binomial name | |
| Mitrephora diversifolia | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
Mitrephora diversifolia is a species of flowering plant in the family Annonaceae and is native to Queensland, Ambon Island and New Guinea. It is a tree with egg-shaped leaves, the flowers with cream-coloured and mauve-pink petals, 70 to 85 stamens and 10 to 14 carpels. The fruit is egg-shaped containing up to 8 seeds.
Description
Mitrephora diversifolia is a tree that typically grows to a height of up to 15 m (49 ft). Its leaves are egg-shaped, 80–300 mm (3.1–11.8 in) long, 30–90 mm (1.2–3.5 in) wide on a petiole 4–6 mm (0.16–0.24 in) long and have 9 to 11 pairs of secondary veins. The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils on a peduncle up to 15 mm (0.59 in) long, the pedicel 4–6 mm (0.16–0.24 in) long. The sepals are 4 mm (0.16 in) long and densely hairy. Its outer petals cream-coloured, egg-shaped with the narower end towards the base, 18–22 mm (0.71–0.87 in) long and 13–15 mm (0.51–0.59 in) wide. The inner petals are 5 mm (0.20 in) long and 7 mm (0.28 in) wide, with a mauve-pink, hairy, spade-shaped or arrow-shaped blade. There are 70 to 85 stamens and 10 to 14 carpels each containing 10 ovules. Flowering mostly occurs between October and March, and fruit is egg-shaped, 20–30 mm (0.79–1.18 in) long and 12–20 mm (0.47–0.79 in) wide, containing up to 8 seeds. [2]
Taxonomy
This species was first described in 1841 by Johan Baptist Spanoghe who gave it the name Unona ? diversifolia in the journal Linnaea. [3] [4] In 1858, Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel transferred the species to the genus Mitrephora as M. diversifolia. The specific epithet (diversifolia) means "unlike-" or "different-leaved". [5]
Distribution and habitat
Mitrephora diversifolia grows in vine forest from the tip of Cape York Peninsula to the McIlwraith Range and on Ambon Island in Indonesia, and possibly also in New Guinea. [2]
References
- ^ a b "Mitrephora diversifolia". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
- ^ a b Jessup, L.W. "Mitrephore diversifolia". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
- ^ "Unona ? diversifolia". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
- ^ Spanoghe, Johann B. (1841). "Prodromus Florae Timorensis". Linnaea : Ein Journal für die Botanik in ihrem ganzen Umfange. 15: 163. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
- ^ George, Alex; Sharr, Francis (2021). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (4th ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 186. ISBN 9780958034180.