''Flindersia pimenteliana'', commonly known as maple silkwood, red beech or rose silkwood, is a species of tree in the family

Rutaceae The Rutaceae is a family, commonly known as the rueRUTACEAE
in BoDD – Botanical Der ...

and is

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

to New Guinea and Queensland. It has

pinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...

leaves with three to seven egg-shaped to elliptic leaflets, panicles of red or reddish flowers and fruit studded with rough points.

Description

''Flindersia pimenteliana'' is a tree that typically grows to a height of . It has pinnate leaves long arranged in more or less opposite pairs with three to seven, egg-shaped to elliptic leaflets long and wide. The side leaflets are on a petiolule long and the end leaflet on a petiolule long. The flowers are arranged in panicles long, the five

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coine ...

s about long and the five petals red or reddish and long. Flowering occurs from November to February and the fruit is a woody capsule long and studded with rough points up to long. The fruit opens into five valves, releasing winged seeds long.

Taxonomy

''Flindersia pimenteliana'' was first formally described in 1875 by Ferdinand von Mueller in '' Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae'' from specimens collected near Rockingham Bay by John Dallachy.

Distribution and habitat

Maple silkwood grows in rainforest in Australia and New Guinea. In Australia in grows at altitudes from and is found from Mount Finnigan (in Cedar Bay National Park) to Mount Fox in north Queensland.

Uses

Good quality, decorative cabinet timber has been produced by this tree but because it is mostly only found in reserves, the timber is in very short supply. Attempts to grow this species in plantations have failed.

Chemical constituents

F. pimenteliana contains

tryptamine Tryptamine is an indolamine metabolite of the essential amino acid, tryptophan. The chemical structure is defined by an indole ─ a fused benzene and pyrrole ring, and a 2-aminoethyl group at the second carbon (third aromatic atom, with the f ...

alkaloid Alkaloids are a class of basic, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Some synthetic compounds of similar ...

s known as pimentelamines. They are adducts of ascorbic acid. The plant also contains 2-isoprenyl-N,N-dimethyltryptamine, another tryptamine alkaloid, as well as 4-methylborreverine, borreverine, dimethylisoborreverine,

quercitrin Quercitrin is a glycoside formed from the flavonoid quercetin and the deoxy sugar rhamnose. Austrian chemist Heinrich Hlasiwetz (1825-1875) is remembered for his chemical analysis of quercitrin. Occurrence Quercitrin is a constituent of the ...

, and carpachromene.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5459447 pimenteliana Sapindales of Australia Flora of Papua New Guinea Flora of Western New Guinea Flora of Queensland Plants described in 1875 Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller