''Daphnandra micrantha'', the socketwood or Manning River socketwood is a

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfo ...

tree in eastern Australia. It grows near streams in various types of rainforest. Restricted to the

Manning River Manning River (Biripi: ''Boolumbahtee''), an open and trained mature wave dominated barrier estuary, is located in the Northern Tablelands and Mid North Coast districts of New South Wales, Australia. It is the only double delta river in the so ...

and

Hastings River Hastings River (Birpai: ''Doongang''), an open and trained intermediate wave dominated barrier estuary, is located in the Northern Tablelands and Mid North Coast districts of New South Wales, Australia. Course and features Hastings River ris ...

valleys (31° S) of northern eastern

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. Also seen in

ecotone An ecotone is a transition area between two biological communities, where two communities meet and integrate. It may be narrow or wide, and it may be local (the zone between a field and forest) or regional (the transition between forest and gras ...

areas dominated by

brush box ''Lophostemon confertus'' (syn. ''Tristania conferta''), is an evergreen tree native to Australia, though it is cultivated in the United States and elsewhere. Common names include brush box, Queensland box, Brisbane box, pink box, box scrub, and ...

and

tallowwood Tallow wood is a common name for several plants and may refer to: *'' Eucalyptus microcorys'', native to eastern Australia *''Ximenia americana ''Ximenia americana'', commonly known as tallow wood, hog plum, yellow plum, sea lemon, or pi'ut (Ch ...

Naming and taxonomy

A member of the ancient

Gondwana Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final st ...

family

Atherospermataceae The Atherospermataceae, commonly known as the southern sassafrases, are a family of broadleaf evergreen trees and shrubs. The family includes 14 species in seven genera. The atherosperms are today mostly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere, wi ...

. Previously considered one species, it is now published as four different types of ''socketwood'' by

Richard Schodde Richard Schodde, OAM (born 23 September 1936) is an Australian botanist and ornithologist. Schodde studied at the University of Adelaide, where he received a BSc (Hons) in 1960 and a PhD in 1970. During the 1960s he was a botanist with the CSI ...

. The generic name

Daphnandra ''Daphnandra'' is a genus of shrubs and trees in the family Atherospermataceae, or formerly Monimiaceae. The genus is endemic to Australia. There are six species, occurring in New South Wales and Queensland: *''Daphnandra apatela'' Schodde Soc ...

refers to a similarity of the

anthers The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

of the

Bay Laurel ''Laurus nobilis'' is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub with green, glabrous (smooth) leaves. It is in the flowering plant family Lauraceae. It is native to the Mediterranean region and is used as bay leaf for seasoning in cooking. ...

. Greek ''daphne'' refers to the Bay Laurel, and ''andros'' from the Greek for man. ''Micanthra'' from the Greek refers to small flowers. A feature of

Daphnandra apatela ''Daphnandra apatela'', the socketwood, light yellowwood or canary socketwood is a common rainforest tree in eastern Australia. It grows in the more fertile alluvial soils and basaltic soils. Distributed from the Watagan Mountains (31° S) in ...

is where larger branchlets meet the main trunk, resembling a "ball and socket" type joint. Hence the common name of socketwood for this group of trees.

Description

A small to medium-sized tree, sometimes reaching 20 metres tall and with a trunk diameter of 25 cm. The bark is fawnish cream in colour, with vertical cracks. The small branches lack the soft downy hairs of other socketwood types. Branchlets are flattened where they join the main stem.

Leaves

Leaves opposite on the stem. 7 to 17 cm long, 1 to 5 cm wide, finely toothed. Approximately 14 teeth per side. Midrib raised below the leaf, but sunken above. Five pairs of lateral veins, more evident below the leaf. Leaf stem 3 to 8 mm long.

Flowers and fruit

Small flowers form from June to October, being greenish white or pinkish green. The fruit is a woody receptacle, it splits in two, releasing hairy wind blown

achene An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not op ...

s with one seed. Hypsilurus spinipes - Southern Angle Headed Dragon - Boorganna Nature Reserve

References

* http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Daphnandra~micrantha access date 29 January 2010 {{Taxonbar, from=Q5221586 Atherospermataceae Trees of Australia Flora of New South Wales