''Macropteranthes kekwickii'', commonly known as bullwaddy, is a species of woody tree or shrub native to the
Northern Territory in Australia.
Description
''M. kekwickii'' is a dry-season deciduous tree that grows up to six metres high, with small leaves growing on short branchlets.
Taxonomy
''M. kekwickii'' was first described by
Ferdinand von Mueller
Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 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 Vict ...
, but the name was not published validly since the genus name had not been established. The description was finally published in 1864 in
George Bentham's "Flora Australiensis".
The type specimen was found at Newcastle Water, on M'Douall Stuart's Expedition."
Ecology
''M. kekwickii'' is found mostly on
lateritic
Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by ...
soils in the
Sturt Plateau bioregion of the
Victoria Plains tropical savanna
The Victoria Plains tropical savanna is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregion in northwestern Australia.
Geography
The ecoregion lies in the central Northern Territory, extending into northeastern Western ...
ecoregion. Together with
lancewood (''Acacia shirleyi''), it forms a distinct plant community known as lancewood-bullwaddy woodland. The woodlands have a dense tree canopy and can form impenetrable thickets, with many climbing vines and a sparser understorey of forbs, small shrubs, ferns, and mosses. The woodlands are more fire-sensitive, and less fire-prone, than the adjacent eucalyptus woodlands. These woodlands and thickets are home to many of the fire-sensitive species characteristic of Australia's rainforest flora.
[Bullwaddy Conservation Reserve Plan of Management 2005''. Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory. ISBN N. 0 7245 4866 1 Accessed 22 October 2020]
/ref>
References
Combretaceae
Plants described in 1864
Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller
Flora of the Northern Territory
Taxa named by George Bentham
{{Myrtales-stub