''Angophora hispida'' grows as a mallee, or as a tree to about in height. Its small size, especially when compared to its ''

Angophora ''Angophora'' is a genus of nine species of trees and shrubs in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Endemic to eastern Australia, they differ from other eucalypts in having juvenile and adult leaves arranged in opposite pairs, sepals reduced to projec ...

'' and ''

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...

'' relatives, leads to it being known by the common name dwarf apple. It is native to a relatively small patch of central

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 ...

– from just south of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

up to the

Gosford Gosford is a waterfront city at the northern end of Brisbane Water on the Central Coast in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Gosford Waterfront is known for its boating and scenic views on the shores of Brisbane Water. Gosford is ...

area. The plant's leaves are sessile (stalk-less) and hug the stem with heart-shaped bases. Its previous name – ''A. cordifolia'' – referred to these

cordate Cordate is an adjective meaning ' heart-shaped' and is most typically used for: * Cordate (leaf shape), in plants * Cordate axe, a prehistoric stone tool See also * Chordate A chordate ( ) is a bilaterian animal belonging to the phyl ...

leaves. Another distinctive feature is the red bristly hairs that cover the branchlets, flower bases and new growth. This leads to the

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

''hispida'' (meaning 'bristly').

Description

Dwarf apple grows as a small tree or mallee to high. It has greyish flaky bark. Like other members of the genus ''Angophora'' and unlike other eucalypts, the leaves are arranged oppositely along the stem. Sitting on petiole 0–4 mm long, the leaves are ovate to elliptic in shape, and measure in length and across, with a blunt rounded apex, and a cordate (heart-shaped) base. They are pale yellow-green above and greyish on their undersurface. New growth is covered in reddish hairs. Flowering takes place from November to January. The showy creamy-white flower heads are terminal and

umbel UMBEL (Upper Mapping and Binding Exchange Layer) is a logically organized knowledge graph of 34,000 concepts and entity types that can be used in information science for relating information from disparate sources to one another. It was retired ...

late, each composed of three to seven flowers on long

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branch ...

, which in turn branch off from a long peduncle. Like the new leaves and stems, developing buds are covered in reddish hair. Globular in shape with longitudinal ribbing, they grow to a diameter of . The flowers fall leaving the cup-shaped woody seed pods or fruit, which measure long and in diameter. These shed the mature seed in February and March. The oval-shaped seeds are brown and flat, measuring long.

Taxonomy

Common names include dwarf apple and scrub apple, and ''banda'' in the

Cadigal The Gadigal, also spelled as Cadigal and Caddiegal, are a group of Aboriginal people whose traditional lands are located in Gadi, on Eora country, the location of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. However, since the colonisation of Australi ...

language. Loddiges Nursery called it the Rough Metrosideros after the dwarf apple was described by James Edward Smith in 1797 as ''Metrosideros hispida'', having been collected by Surgeon-General of New South Wales, John White in 1795.

Antonio José Cavanilles Antonio José Cavanilles (16 January 1745 – 5 May 1804) was a leading Spanish taxonomic botanist, artist and one of the most important figures in the 18th century period of Enlightenment in Spain. Cavanilles is most famous for his 2-vol ...

also described it the same year as ''Angophora cordifolia'', having been collected somewhere near the shoreline in Port Jackson. The latter name remained in use until 1976, when ''A. hispida'' was erected by Don Blaxell, who had established that Smith's name had been published four months earlier in May (contrasting with Cavanillles in September) of 1797. Smith had been sent a specimen by Surgeon-General White, which flowered in 1798. He went on to publish a fuller description accompanied by an illustration by

James Sowerby James Sowerby (21 March 1757 – 25 October 1822) was an English natural history, naturalist, illustrator and mineralogist. Contributions to published works, such as ''A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland'' or ''English Botany'', include his ...

in 1805.

Kevin Thiele Kevin R. Thiele is currently an adjunct associate professor at the University of Western Australia and the director of Taxonomy Australia. He was the curator of the Western Australian Herbarium from 2006 to 2015. His research interests include ...

and Pauline Ladiges published a phylogenetic study based on morphology and came up with the smudgy apple ('' Angophora woodsiana'') as the dwarf apple's closest relative. Brooker and colleagues consider it to be more closely related to the broad-leaved apple ('' A. subvelutina''). More recently, genetic work has been published showing ''Angophora'' to be more closely related to ''Eucalyptus'' than ''

Corymbia ''Corymbia'', commonly known as bloodwoods, is a genus of about one hundred species of tree that, along with ''Eucalyptus'', '' Angophora'' and several smaller groups, are referred to as eucalypts. Until 1990, corymbias were included in the g ...

'', and the name ''Eucalyptus hispida'' has been proposed for this species if it were to be placed in the eucalypt genus. Hybrids with ''

Angophora costata ''Angophora costata'', commonly known as Sydney red gum, rusty gum or smooth-barked apple, is a species of tree that is endemic to eastern Australia. Reaching in height, the species has distinctive smooth bark that is pinkish or orange-brown wh ...

'' and '' A. bakeri'' have been recorded.

Distribution and habitat

Dwarf apple is found only in the Sydney Basin, as far south as O’Hares Creek off the

Georges River The Georges River, also known as Tucoerah River, is an intermediate tide-dominated Ria, drowned valley estuary, that is located in Sydney, Australia. The Georges River is located south and south-west from the Sydney central business district, w ...

, on dry sandstone soils low in nutrients. The associated plant communities are heath, scrubland or open woodland, with such species as scribbly gums (''

Eucalyptus racemosa ''Eucalyptus racemosa'', commonly known as snappy gum or narrow-leaved scribbly gum, is a species of small to medium-sized tree that is Endemism, endemic to eastern Australia. It has smooth, mottled bark, lance-shaped to curved or egg-shaped adu ...

'' and '' E. haemastoma''), red bloodwood (''

Corymbia gummifera ''Corymbia gummifera'', commonly known as red bloodwood, is a species of tree, rarely a mallee, that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has rough, tessellated bark on the trunk and branches, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups o ...

''), narrow-leaved apple (''

Angophora bakeri ''Angophora bakeri'', commonly known as the narrow-leaved apple, is a species of tree that is endemic to New South Wales. It has rough, fibrous bark on the trunk and branches, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of three or seven, w ...

''), heath banksia (''

Banksia ericifolia ''Banksia ericifolia'', the heath-leaved banksia, or lantern banksia, is a species of woody shrub of the family Proteaceae native to Australia. It grows in two separate regions of Central and Northern New South Wales east of the Great Dividing ...

''), rusty banksia ('' B. oblongifolia''), silver banksia ('' B. marginata''), conesticks ('' Petrophile pulchella''), scrub sheoak ('' Allocasuarina distyla''), wax flower ('' Eriostemon australasius'') and parrot pea ('' Dillwynia floribunda''). It grows from sea level to an altitude of and with an annual rainfall of .

Ecology

Dwarf apple regenerates from bushfire by resprouting from its woody base, known as a

lignotuber A lignotuber is a woody swelling of the root crown possessed by some plants as a protection against destruction of the plant stem, such as by fire. Other woody plants may develop basal burls as a similar survival strategy, often as a respons ...

, or epicormic shoots. It can flower within a year of being burnt and plays an important role as a food source for nectar-eating insects after bushfire. The flowers attract birds, such as the noisy miner and wattlebirds, and a wide variety of insects, including honeybees, native bees, flies, moths and butterflies, and a wide array of beetles, including the rose chafer (''

Eupoecila australasiae ''Eupoecila australasiae'', commonly known as the fiddler beetle or rose chafer, is a colourful green- or yellow-and-black member of the scarab beetle family from eastern Australia. The fiddler beetle was originally described by Anglo Irish natu ...

''), green-velvet flower chafer ('' Glycyphana brunnipes''), the variable jewel beetle ('' Temognatha variabilis''), the cowboy beetle (''

Chondropyga dorsalis ''Chondropyga dorsalis'', the cowboy beetle, is a large beetle endemic to Australia. Description The cowboy beetle grows to 20–25 mm (0.8–1 in) long with females generally slightly larger than males. It has a yellow-brown colourat ...

''), and a scarab beetle '' Bisallardiana gymnopleura'', as well as members of the scarab genus '' Phyllotocus'' and

soldier beetle The soldier beetles (Cantharidae) are relatively soft-bodied, straight-sided beetles. They are cosmopolitan in distribution. One of the first described species has a color pattern reminiscent of the red coats of early British soldiers, he ...

genus '' Telephorus''. The dwarf apple is a host for larvae of

froghopper The superfamily Cercopoidea, some members of which are called froghoppers and still others known as spittlebugs, are a group of hemipteran insects in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha. Adults are capable of jumping many times their height and length, ...

s, known as spittlebugs. ''Angophora hispida'' has been recorded as a host for the mistletoe species '' Muellerina eucalyptoides''.

Use in horticulture

This is a small tree suitable for larger gardens, its red new growth and profuse white flowers are attractive horticultural features. Flowering in summer, the flowers attract brightly coloured beetles. It requires a sunny aspect and good drainage to grow well.

Gallery

Angophora hispida DSC 4503 (27666550975).jpg, Opposite & decussate leaves Angophora hispida Dwarf apple (Angophora hispida) 31-10-2007 IMG 5392 (1807217983).jpg, (After fire) red hairy new growth Angophora hispida DSC 6592 (33368522242).jpg, Ribbed capsules Angophora hispida Angophora hispida DSC 0287 (6747735393).jpg, Flowers & new leaves Angophora hispida Buds 44670772685 d40aeff6c8 o.jpg, Red, hairy flower buds

References

External links

The Australasian Virtual Herbarium – Occurrence data for ''Angophora hispida''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4564065 hispida Flora of New South Wales Trees of Australia Garden plants of Australia Ornamental trees Mallees (habit) Plants described in 1975