''Acronychia acuminata'', commonly known as Thornton aspen, is a species of shrub or small rainforest tree that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to north-eastern Queensland. It has simple leaves on stems that are more or cylindrical, flowers in small groups in leaf axils and fleshy, oval to spherical fruit.

Description

''Acronychia acuminata'' is a tree that typically grows to a height of but flowers when only shrub-sized. It has more or less cylindrical stems and simple, glabous, elliptical leaves long and wide on a petiole long. The flowers are arranged in small groups about long in leaf axils, each flower on a pedicel long. The four

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 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s are about wide, the four

petal Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corol ...

s about long and the eight

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 alternate in length. Flowering occurs in July and the fruit is a fleshy, oval or spherical

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is a type of fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pip'' (UK), ''pit'' (US), ''stone'', or ''pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed ...

long.

Taxonomy

''Acronychia acuminata'' was first formally described in 1974 by Thomas Gordon Hartley in the '' Journal of the Arnold Arboretum'' from specimens collected between the Daintree and Bloomfield Rivers.

Distribution and habitat

Thornton Aspen grows in rainforest between the Bloomfield Range and Daintree Range, at an altitudes of about .

Conservation status

Thornton aspen is classified as "near threatened" under the Queensland Government ''

Nature Conservation Act 1992 The ''Nature Conservation Act 1992'' is an act of the Parliament of Queensland, Australia, that, together with subordinate legislation, provides for the legislative protection of Queensland's threatened biota. As originally published, it prov ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15385394 acuminata Flora of Queensland Plants described in 1974 Taxa named by Thomas Gordon Hartley