Terminalia petiolaris A.Cunn. ex Benth.

Species

Angiosperms > Myrtales > Combretaceae > Terminalia

Characteristics

A small tree which loses its leaves during the year. It grows up to 10 m tall. The bark is dark grey and with cracks along its length. The small branches are silky. The leaves are oval and 6.5-14 cm long by 4-7 cm wide. They are green but turn red to purple before falling. They are papery and without hairs but less shiny underneath. The tip is blunt but sometimes with a small point. The base of the leaf is blunt or slightly tapering. The leaf stalk is 3.5-6 cm long and slender. The flower spikes are 11 cm long and hairy. The flowers are creamy white. They smell sweetly of nectar. The fruit is succulent and green and turns red or black when ripe. They are oval and 1-2 cm long by 0.7-0.9 cm wide. They have a short beak. The flesh of the fruit is eaten. Inside there is a large seed.
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Tree to 10 m high, deciduous. Branchlets appressed pubescent, glabrescent. Leaves not crowded; lamina elliptic or ovate, 6–13 cm long, 3.5–8 cm wide, 1.3–2, rarely 3 times as long as wide, cuneate and sometimes oblique at base, obtuse or obtusely acuminate at apex, discolorous, often shiny above, scattered appressed hairs below when mature; domatia not numerous, small, well defined; petiole 30–60 mm long. Spike open, shorter than leaves. Flowers 6–8 mm long, c. 6 mm diam. Calyx ± glabrous; lobes triangular, c. 2 mm long and wide. Staminal filaments c. 4 mm long. Disc villous. Style glabrous. Mature fruit ellipsoidal, with a distinct beak, 2–2.5 cm long, 1–1.5 cm diam., succulent, smooth, dark red to black; immature fruit with 2 obscure lateral angles.
A small tree. It grows to 6 m tall. It is similar to Terminalia petiolaris but the leaf stalks are shorter and the fruit turn deep reddish colour when ripe.
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Growth form tree
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
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Mature height (meter) 10.0
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Environment

It is a tropical plant. It grows in coastal areas on sandstone or sandy soils in northern Western Australia. They are often just behind the coastal dunes. It grows from sea level to 100 m above sea level. The tree is resistant to cyclone damage.
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Often subdominant in low closed-forest in sandy soil derived either from old dunes or from sandstone.
A tropical plant. It occurs in the Kimberleys region in northern Western Australia.
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Usage

The flesh of the fruit is eaten. The gum from the tree is edible. It is eaten raw, or cooked.
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The fruit are eaten.
Uses gum
Edible fruits gums
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Cultivation

It occurs naturally in the Kimberleys in Western Australia. It grows from seed.
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Distribution

Terminalia petiolaris world distribution map, present in Australia

Conservation status

Terminalia petiolaris threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:171318-1
WFO ID wfo-0000408807
COL ID 55GCJ
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Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Myrobalanus petiolaris Terminalia petiolaris