''Abrophyllum'' ( syn.: ''Brachynema'' F.Muell.) is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s in the family

Saxifragaceae Saxifragaceae is a family of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous Perennial plant, perennial flowering plants, within the core eudicot Order (biology), order Saxifragales. The Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of the family has been greatly revised and the ...

''sensu lato'' according to Engler, A. in Engler & Prantl and Schulze-Menz, G. K. in Melchior, 1964; placed in Subfamily Escallonioideae, Tribe Cuttsieae, it is closely related to ''

Cuttsia ''Cuttsia viburnea'' is a shrub or bushy tree which has toothed leaves and panicles of white flowers, and that is Endemism, endemic to eastern Australia. It is sometimes called silver-leaved cuttsia, and confusingly also native elderberry, honey ...

''. In the

APG II system The APG II system (Angiosperm Phylogeny Group II system) of plant classification is the second, now obsolete, version of a modern, mostly Molecular phylogenetics, molecular-based, list of systems of plant taxonomy, system of plant taxonomy that ...

''Abrophyllum'' is placed in family

Rousseaceae Rousseaceae is a plant family in the order Asterales containing trees and shrubs. The fruit is a berry or capsule. Leaves are simple, with toothed margins. Leaf stipules are not seen in this group. The family contains four genera and twelve or t ...

. The sole species is ''Abrophyllum ornans''. Its common name is native hydrangea, but it does not have great affinity with the true

hydrangea ''Hydrangea'' ( or ) is a genus of more than 70 species of Flowering plant, flowering plants native plant, native to Asia and the Americas. Hydrangea is also used as the common name for the genus; some (particularly ''Hydrangea macrophylla, H. m ...

Classification

It is also classified in

Escalloniaceae Escalloniaceae is a family of flowering plants consisting of about 130 species in eight genera. In the APG II system it is one of eight families in the euasterids II clade (campanulids) that are unplaced as to order. More recent research has pro ...

(by Hutchinson 1967; Dahlgren; Thorne),

Grossulariaceae ''Ribes'' () is a genus of about 200 known species of flowering plants, most of them native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The species may be known as various kinds of currants, such as redcurrants, blackcurrants, and whi ...

( Cronquist 1988), Carpodetaceae ( APG I 1998, Kubitzki 2007),

( APG II 2003, Shipunov 2005, Thorne & Reveal 2007 and Heywood ''et al.'' 2007), or even in its own family Abrophyllaceae Nakai ( Reveal and

Takhtajan Armen Leonovich Takhtajan or Takhtajian (; surname also transliterated Takhtadjan, Takhtadzhi︠a︡n or Takhtadzhian, pronounced takh-tuh-JAHN; 10 June 1910 – 13 November 2009), was a Soviet-Armenian botanist, one of the most important figu ...

1997).

Distribution

It is native to Australia (

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

). Its habitat is warm-temperate and subtropical rainforest, especially along smaller watercourses or in gullies on poorer soils. The natural range of distribution is from the

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal Regions of New South Wales, region in the southeast of the Australian state of New South Wales. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast, New South Wales, South Coast region. It encompas ...

region of New South Wales to the McIlwraith Range in far north Queensland.* Floyd, Alexander G., ''Rainforest Trees of Mainland South-eastern Australia'', Inkata Press 1989, , page 126

Description

Shrubs or small trees to high; leaves simple, mostly long, wide, alternate, large,

lanceolate The following terms are used to describe leaf plant morphology, morphology in the description and taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade ...

, long-acuminate, subserrate; without

stipule In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole (botany), petiole). They are primarily found among dicots and rare among monocots. Stipules are considered part ...

s, petiole long. Flowers in terminal or axillary

cymes In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a main axis ( ped ...

, yellowish. Calyx is short (c. long.), tubular, lobes usually 5 or sometimes 6, deciduous. Petals long, usually 5 or sometimes 6, valvate, spreading, deciduous.

Stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s usually 5 or sometimes 6, inserted on the margin of the inconspicuous nectary disk;

anther The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s broad oblong; filaments very short.

Gynoecium Gynoecium (; ; : gynoecia) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl (botany), whorl of a flower; it consists ...

of 5

carpel Gynoecium (; ; : gynoecia) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more ...

s, receptacle patelliform.

Ovary The ovary () is a gonad in the female reproductive system that produces ova; when released, an ovum travels through the fallopian tube/ oviduct into the uterus. There is an ovary on the left and the right side of the body. The ovaries are end ...

superior, 5-locular, with numerous axile

ovule In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to and contains the female reproductive cells. It consists of three parts: the ''integument'', forming its outer layer, the ''nucellus'' (or remnant of the sporangium, megasporangium), ...

s, stigma sessile, 5-lobed. Fruit are oblong, black

berries A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone fruit, stone or pit (fruit), pit although many wikt:pip#Etymology 2, pips or seeds may be p ...

about long and wide, crowned by the stigma, many-seeded; seeds small, subglobose, testa deeply latticed;

embryo An embryo ( ) is the initial stage of development for a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male sp ...

very small;

endosperm The endosperm is a tissue produced inside the seeds of most of the flowering plants following double fertilization. It is triploid (meaning three chromosome sets per nucleus) in most species, which may be auxin-driven. It surrounds the Embryo#Pla ...

fleshy and oily.

Uses

Sometimes (locally) cultivated for its ornamental foliage and fruits.

References

Bibliography

* Bentham, G. & Hooker, J. D. (1862-1867). ''Genera Plantarum''.Volume I, p. 647. Reeve, London * Engler, A. (1930). Saxifragaceae. In Engler, A. & Prantl, K.:''Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien'', 18a, 2nd Edition, p. 213. (In

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

) * Schulze-Menz, G.K. (1964). Rosales. In H. Melchior (Editor). A. Engler's: ''Syllabus der Pflanzenfamilien'', Volume II, 12th edition. Berlin: Gebrüder Borntraeger, pp. 193–242. * Hutchinson, J.(1967):''The Genera of Flowering Plants'', Volume II, p. 30. *Gustafsson, M. H. G. & Bremer, K. (1997). The circumscription and systematic position of Carpodetaceae.''Australian Systematic Botany'' 10(6): 855–862. t is proposed that the family Carpodetaceae be expanded to encompass ''Abrophyllum'' and ''Cuttsia''. *Takhtajan, A. (1997). ''Diversity and classification of flowering plants'', 370–373. * Hils, M. H. (1985). Comparative anatomy and systematics of twelve woody Australasian genera of the Saxifragaceae. Matthew Hils: Florida xvi, 239, 3. - illus. Icones, Anatomy and morphology. Thesis: University of Florida: PhD ncluding ''Abrophyllum''

External links

Abrophyllum - Brisbane Rainforest Action & Information Network

PlantNET
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4055107, from2=Q17479710 Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Rousseaceae Asterales of Australia Monotypic Asterales genera