''Guioa semiglauca'', known as the guioa or wild quince, is a rainforest tree of eastern Australia It grows from Kioloa (35° S) near

Batemans Bay Batemans Bay is a town in the South Coast region of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Batemans Bay is administered by the Eurobodalla Shire council. The town is situated on the shores of an estuary formed where the Clyde River meets the ...

in southern New South Wales to

Eungella National Park Eungella National Park ( ; meaning "Land of the clouds") is a protected area in Queensland, Australia. It is on the Clarke Range at the end of the Pioneer Valley 80 km west of Mackay, and 858 km northwest of Brisbane. Eunge ...

(20° S) in tropical Queensland. It grows in many different types of rainforest, particularly common in regenerating areas and on sand in

littoral The littoral zone, also called litoral or nearshore, is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely i ...

rainforest.

Description

''Guioa semiglauca'' grows to around 25 m tall and 43 cm in diameter, but it may flower and fruit when only 6 m tall. The outer bark is smooth and the trunk is fluted. It is similar to coachwood, however it is more fluted and irregular. The veiny leaflets are pinnate and measure up to 10 cm long. The midrib extends beyond the leaf to form a tiny tip. They are green above and whitish (

glaucous ''Glaucous'' (, ) is used to describe the pale grey or bluish-green appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the glaucous gull (''Larus hyperboreus''), glaucous-winged gull (''Larus glaucescens''), ...

) below. The yellow/green flowers form around September to November. The fruiting capsule matures from January to May. The seeds are oval covered by a thin layer of fleshy

aril An aril (), also called arillus, is a specialized outgrowth from a seed that partly or completely covers the seed. An arillode, or false aril, is sometimes distinguished: whereas an aril grows from the attachment point of the seed to the ova ...

. Fruit eaten by a large variety of birds, including the

Australian king parrot The Australian king parrot (''Alisterus scapularis'') is a species of parrot endemic to eastern Australia ranging from Cooktown in Queensland to Port Campbell in Victoria (Australia), Victoria. Found in humid and heavily forested upland regions o ...

Uses

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

used the

saponin Saponins (Latin ''sapon'', 'soap' + ''-in'', 'one of') are bitter-tasting, usually toxic plant-derived secondary metabolites. They are organic chemicals that become foamy when agitated in water and have high molecular weight. They are present ...

in the bark as a fish poison.

Gallery

File:Guioa semiglauca Foxground1.jpg, Stand of trees on the

Illawarra Escarpment The Illawarra escarpment, or officially the Illawarra Range, is the fold-created cliffs and plateau-eroded outcrop mountain range west of the Illawarra coastal plain south of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The range enclose ...

south west of Kiama File:Guioa-semiglauca-ALA1.jpg, Fluted trunk File:Guioa-semiglauca-RFK5.jpg, Underside of leaves File:Guioa-semiglauca-RFK2.jpg, Female flowers File:Guioa-semiglauca-RFK4.jpg, Male flowers File:Guioa-semiglauca-RFK3.jpg, Fruit

References

External links

View a map
of herbarium records of this species at the

Australasian Virtual Herbarium The ''Australasian Virtual Herbarium'' (AVH) is an online resource that allows access to plant specimen data held by various Australian and New Zealand herbaria. It is part of the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA), and was formed by the amalgama ...

View observations
of this species on

iNaturalist iNaturalist is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit social network of naturalists, citizen scientists, and biologists built on the concept of mapping and sharing observations of biodiversity across the globe. iNaturalist may be accessed via its web ...

See images
of this species on Flickriver.com {{Taxonbar, from=Q5616630 semiglauca Sapindales of Australia Trees of Australia Flora of Queensland Flora of New South Wales