''Endiandra virens'' is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal ...

tree in the

laurel family Lauraceae, or the laurels, is a plant family that includes the true laurel and its closest relatives. This family comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genera worldwide (Christenhusz & Byng 2016 ). They are dicotyledons, and occur ma ...

. Growing from

Boorganna Nature Reserve The Boorganna Nature Reserve is a protected nature reserve located northwest of Taree on the Comboyne Plateau in New South Wales, Australia. The reserve, managed by the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service, was gazetted in 1904 and is the secon ...

north west of

Taree, New South Wales Taree is a town on the Mid North Coast, New South Wales, Australia. Taree and nearby Cundletown were settled in 1831 by William Wynter. Since then Taree has grown to a population of 26,381, and is the centre of a significant agricultural distri ...

to Kin Kin in Southern

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. Common names include White Apple, Plumwood, and New South Wales Walnut. ''Endiandra virens'' is an understorey

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. The habitat is various types of

, usually on poorer soils at low altitudes.

Description

''Endiandra virens'' is a small tree with bright green leaves and large fruit. Usually seven to ten metres tall with a trunk diameter of 20 cm. The bark is pale, often grey or whitish grey. The bark is not smooth, with vertical ridges, lines and bumps, somewhat soft and corky. New branchlets green and smooth, new shoots with small hairs.

Leaves

The leaves are alternate, not toothed. 6 to 15 cm long, 2 to 3 cm wide. Oblong or

lanceolate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regula ...

in shape. Leaves are narrow at both ends. Leaf stem 3 to 12 mm long. Glossy green above, duller below. The specific name ''virens'' refers to the bright green of the new leaves. The midrib, lateral veins and net veins are visible on both surfaces, raised and more evident under the leaf. Midrib raised under the leaf, somewhat depressed on the upper leaf surface.

Flowers and Fruit

Small cream flowers occur on

panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is ...

s in the months of March to May. The panicle is shorter than a leaf. The fruit matures from April to July, though sometimes as late as November. A very large globular

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

, 4 to 10 cm in diameter. Coloured yellow, orange or red when mature. The single seed is 3 to 4 cm in diameter. Removal of the fleshy aril is advised before planting the seeds.

Taxonomy

It is possible that the Queensland populations currently included as ''Endiandra virens'' between

Caboolture Caboolture () is a town and suburb in Moreton Bay Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the suburb of Caboolture had a population of 26,433 people. It is located on the north side of the Caboolture River, which separates the town from Morayfi ...

and Kin Kin represent a distinct species once named ''

Endiandra lowiana ''Endiandra'' is a genus of about 126 species of plants, mainly trees, in the laurel family Lauraceae. They are commonly called "walnut" despite not being related to the Northern Hemisphere walnuts ('' Juglans'' spp.) which are in the family Ju ...

'' by F. M. Bailey in 1892. These plants differ in leaf and bark character from the NSW populations and are similar to a less hairy

Endiandra pubens ''Endiandra pubens'' is a rainforest tree growing in eastern Australia. The habitat is subtropical rainforest growing near streams in valleys. The range of natural distribution is from the Bellinger River, New South Wales to Bulburin National ...

while NSW plants are quite dissimilar to E. pubens. The type specimen of ''Endiandra lowiana'' is from Maroochie (Yandina), While the type for ''Endiandra virens'' is from the Clarence River see (APNI) thus should the QLD populations prove to be a distinct species they would be called ''Endiandra lowiana'' while NSW populations would retain the name ''Endiandra virens''. Genetic and more detailed morphological studies would help to clarify the status of these two taxa.

References

*
(other publication details, included in citation)
* PlantNET - The Plant Information Network System of Botanic Gardens Trust, Sydney, Australia - retrieved 1 September 2009. http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Endiandra~virens {{Taxonbar, from=Q5376117 virens Laurales of Australia Trees of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller Taxa named by Carl Meissner