''Billardiera'', commonly known as appleberries, snot berries, or bluebell creepers, is a genus of flowering plants in the family, ''

Pittosporaceae Pittosporaceae is a family of flowering plants that consists of 200–240 species of trees, shrubs, and lianas in 9 genera. Habitats range from tropical to temperate climates of the Afrotropical, Indomalayan, Oceanian, and Australasian r ...

'' and 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 Australia. Plants in the genus ''Billardiera'' are woody scramblers, climbers or twiners with elliptic, lance-shaped or linear leaves arranged alternately along the stems, the flowers with petals that are joined to form a tube at the base with spreading lobes, and succulent or fleshy fruit.

Description

Plants in the genus ''Billardiera'' are woody scramblers, climbers or undershrubs with twining branches up to several metres long. The leaves are

simple Simple or SIMPLE may refer to: *Simplicity, the state or quality of being simple Arts and entertainment * ''Simple'' (album), by Andy Yorke, 2008, and its title track * "Simple" (Florida Georgia Line song), 2018 * "Simple", a song by John ...

, elliptic, lance-shaped or linear and arranged alternately along the stems. The flowers are arranged singly or in

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 ...

on the ends of branches and are greenish-yellow to cream-coloured, purple or blue, the

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 free from each other. The five petals are much longer than the sepals, sometimes free from each other, or joined at the base to form a tube with spreading lobes. The

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 are free from each other, but sometimes have their

anthers 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 filamen ...

joined at the tip, encircling the

style Style, or styles may refer to: Film and television * ''Style'' (2001 film), a Hindi film starring Sharman Joshi, Riya Sen, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal * ''Style'' (2002 film), a Tamil drama film * ''Style'' (2004 film), a Burmese film * '' ...

. The fruit is a succulent or fleshy, variously shaped

berry 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 or pit although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples of berries in the cul ...

containing many seeds.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Billardiera'' was first formally described in 1793 by James Edward Smith in his book ''

A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland ''A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland'', also known by its standard abbreviation ''Spec. Bot. New Holland'', was the first published book on the flora of Australia. Written by James Edward Smith and illustrated by James Sowerby, it was publ ...

'', and the first species he described (the

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

species) was ''

Billardiera scandens ''Billardiera scandens'', commonly known as hairy apple berry or common apple-berry, is a small shrub or twining plant of the Pittosporaceae family which occurs in forests in the coastal and tableland areas of all states and territories in Austra ...

''. The name, ''Billardiera'' honours Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière.

Species list

The following is a list of species of ''Billardiera'' accepted by the

Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Sys ...

as of May 2023: * '' Billardiera coriacea''

Benth. George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...

(W.A.) * ''

Billardiera cymosa ''Billardiera cymosa'', commonly known as sweet apple-berry or love fruit, is a species of flowering plant in the family Pittosporaceae and is endemic to south-eastern continental Australia. It is usually a slender climber that has narrowly eg ...

F.Muell. Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Victoria (state), Vic ...

(S.A., Vic.) * ''

Billardiera drummondii ''Billardiera drummondii'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Pittosporaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a slender climber that has linear leaves and tiny nodding, blue or mauve flowers arranged in g ...

'' ( C.Morren) L.Cayzer & Crisp (W.A.) * '' Billardiera floribunda'' ( Putt.)

– white-flowered billardiera (W.A.) * '' Billardiera fraseri'' (

Hook. Sir William Jackson Hooker (6 July 178512 August 1865) was an English botanist and botanical illustrator, who became the first director of Kew when in 1841 it was recommended to be placed under state ownership as a botanic garden. At Kew he ...

) L.W.Cayzer, Crisp & I.Telford – elegant pronaya (W.A.) * ''

Billardiera fusiformis ''Billardiera fusiformis'', commonly known as Australian bluebell, is a species of flowering plant in the family Pittosporaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a sturdy, shrubby climber that has linear to narrowly ...

'' Labill. – Australian bluebell (Vic., W.A.) * '' Billardiera heterophylla'' (

Lindl. John Lindley FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist. Early years Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley ...

) L.W.Cayzer & Crisp – bluebell creeper, purple appleberry, Australian bluebell (W.A.) * '' Billardiera laxiflora'' (

) E.M.Benn. (W.A.) * '' Billardiera lehmanniana''

(W.A.) * '' Billardiera longiflora'' Labill. (Tas.) * '' Billardiera macrantha''

Hook.f. Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For 20 years he served as director of the Ro ...

(N.S.W., A.C.T., Vic., Tas.) * '' Billardiera mutabilis'' Salisb. – climbing appleberry (N.S.W., A.C.T., Vic., Tas.) * '' Billardiera nesophila'' L.W.Cayzer & D.L.Jones (Tas.) * '' Billardiera ovalis''

(Tas.) * '' Billardiera rubens'' L.W.Cayzer, Crisp & I.Telford (Qld., N.S.W.) * ''

Sm. Sir James Edward Smith (2 December 1759 – 17 March 1828) was an English botanist and founder of the Linnean Society. Early life and education Smith was born in Norwich in 1759, the son of a wealthy wool merchant. He started studying botan ...

- hairy appleberry (S.A., Qld., N.S.W., A.C.T., Vic.) * '' Billardiera sericophora''

(S.A.) * '' Billardiera speciosa'' (

Endl. Stephan Friedrich Ladislaus Endlicher, also known as Endlicher István László (24 June 1804 – 28 March 1849), was an Austrian botanist, numismatist and Sinologist. He was a director of the Botanical Garden of Vienna. Biography Endlicher s ...

) F.Muell. (W.A.) * '' Billardiera uniflora'' E.M.Benn. (S.A.) * '' Billardiera variifolia''

DC. Augustin Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (, , ; 4 February 17789 September 1841) was a Swiss botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched de Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at a herbarium. Within a couple of years de Candolle ...

(W.A.) * '' Billardiera venusta'' ( Putt.) L.W.Cayzer & Crisp (W.A.) * '' Billardiera versicolor'' F.Muell. ex

Klatt Klatt is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernard Klatt, former Canadian internet service provider * Bill Klatt (1947–2011), retired professional ice hockey player * Dennis H. Klatt, (1938–1988), American researcher in spee ...

– pale appleberry (S.A., N.S.W., Vic.) * '' Billardiera viridiflora'' L.W.Cayzer & D.L.Jones (Tas.)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4911549 Apiales genera Flora of Western Australia Flora of South Australia Flora of Queensland Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (state) Flora of the Australian Capital Territory Flora of Tasmania Taxa named by James Edward Smith