''Auranticarpa rhombifolia'' is a

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

tree of eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Known as the diamond leaf pittosporum, this tree is planted in many parts of Australia as an ornamental. The white flowers and orange fruit make it a most appealing street or garden tree. Other common names include hollywood, diamond leaf laurel, white myrtle and white holly. Australian botanists examined the large genus ''

Pittosporum ''Pittosporum'' ( or The first pronunciation is that expected for traditional English pronunciation of Latin, Anglo-Latin; the second is common in nurseries. ''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607) is a genus of about 250 species of flow ...

'' in 2000 and decided the more northerly examples are significantly different from those in the south. Subsequently, a new genus was created ''

Auranticarpa ''Auranticarpa'' is a genus of trees in the family Pittosporaceae. All six species occur in monsoonal forest and rainforest margins in Northern Australia. The species, all formerly included in the genus ''Pittosporum ''Pittosporum'' ( or The ...

'', which means "gold fruit". The range of natural distribution is on red–brown basaltic soils from

Richmond River, New South Wales The Richmond River is a river situated in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. Course and features The river rises at the northern end of the Richmond Range, near its junction with the McPherson Range, on the Queensla ...

(28° S) to Forty Mile Scrub National Park (18° S) in tropical

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Description

A small tree, up to 25 metres in height and a trunk diameter of 45 cm. The bark is grey, irregular, not smooth and almost corky. Leaves are alternate, toothed in uneven patterns in the top half of the leaf, not toothed closer to the stem, ''

rhomboid Traditionally, in two-dimensional geometry, a rhomboid is a parallelogram in which adjacent sides are of unequal lengths and angles are non-right angled. The terms "rhomboid" and "parallelogram" are often erroneously conflated with each oth ...

'' in shape, 5 to 10 cm long and 4 to 7 cm wide. Midrib, lateral and net veins are easily seen on both the upper and lower leaf surface.

Flowers and fruit

Small white flowers occur in a terminal

corymb Corymb is a botanical term for an inflorescence with the flowers growing in such a fashion that the outermost are borne on longer pedicels than the inner, bringing all flowers up to a common level. A corymb has a flattish top with a superficial re ...

from November to January. Fruit is an orange pear-shaped capsule, 9 mm long with two or three oval black seeds. Fruits mature from February to May. Germination from fresh seed is slow, taking up to four months with around a third of seeds sending out roots and shoots.

Uses

A very popular ornamental tree. It needs a well-drained soil. Full sun is required for a significant display of orange fruit.

References

*
(other publication details, included in citation)
* Native Plants, Global Book Publishing. , published 2008 page 218 * PlantNET – The Plant Information Network System of Botanic Gardens Trust, Sydney, Australia – 16 July 2009. http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Auranticarpa~rhombifolia {{Taxonbar, from=Q937122 Pittosporaceae Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Apiales of Australia Trees of Australia Taxa named by Allan Cunningham (botanist) Garden plants of Australia Ornamental trees