Helicia australasica F.Muell.

Species

Angiosperms > Proteales > Proteaceae > Helicia

Characteristics

Shrub or tree 3-20 m tall. Branchlets rufous to ferruginous-tomentose distally. Leaves: petiole 2-10 mm long; lamina oblong, elliptic-oblong, lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, 6-23 cm long, 4-8.5 cm wide, chartaceous, glabrous to laxly ferruginous-tomentose beneath; tips acuminate, acute or sometimes obtuse; margin irregularly serrate to dentate, not recurved; venation mostly lax; lateral veins 6-10 pairs. Conflorescence axillary or ramiflorous, 7-17 cm long, densely flowered, rufous-or ferruginous-pilose; pedicels 1-3 mm long. Tepals 8-15 mm long, cream, ferruginous-pilose; limb c. 3 mm long, 1-1.5 mm wide. Anthers 2-2.5 mm long. Hypogynous glands broad, truncate, free or fused at base. Ovary ferruginous-tomentose. Fruit ovoid, 8-11 mm long, 5-7.5 mm diam., becoming dark blue.
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A slender tree. It grows 5-10 m tall. The bark is smooth and dark grey. The leaves are alternate and smooth. They are oblong but taper to the base. They are 10-19 cm long by 4-7 cm wide. They are shiny green on top and paler underneath. The veins are distinct and sometimes the edges of the leaves have teeth. The flowers are creamy-white. The style sticks out. Flowers are 1-1.5 cm long and have a scent. Many flowers occur together on long shoots in the axils of leaves. The fruit is oval and fleshy. It is 1.5 cm long by 1 cm wide and purple black. There is thin flesh around one seed. The fruit are edible.
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Growth form tree
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention evergreen
Sexuality hermaphrodite
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Mature height (meter) 4.0 - 15.0
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Environment

A tropical plant. It grows naturally in monsoon forests near streams. It grows from sea level to 1100 m altitude in tropical Queensland. They need deep soils and a shady site.
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Grows in patches of rainforest along rivers and streams to altitudes over 1000 m.
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Hardiness (USDA) 8-12

Usage

The ripe fruit are eaten raw.
Uses medicinal
Edible fruits
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Cultivation

Plants can be grown from seed.
Mode seedlings
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Distribution

Helicia australasica world distribution map, present in Australia and Papua New Guinea

Conservation status

Helicia australasica threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:704374-1
WFO ID wfo-0000717881
COL ID 3K7FJ
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Helicia australasica