''Ixora baileyana'' is a species of flowering plant in the coffee and gardenia family

Rubiaceae Rubiaceae () is a family (biology), family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with Petiole ( ...

, first described in 1987. It is found only in the Wet Tropics bioregion of

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 ...

, Australia.

Description

''Ixora baileyana'' is a shrub to about tall with leaves that are either stemless () or have very short petioles. There are interpetiolar

stipule In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole (botany), petiole). They are primarily found among dicots and rare among monocots. Stipules are considered part ...

s about long, and the leaves are generally broader towards the apex with an acute (pointed) tip and an obtuse (blunt) base. They can reach in length and in width, with between 9 and 14 pairs of lateral veins. Small scented flowers are produced in clusters in the and are more or less sessile. They are tubular and have four recurved lobes about long. They have four stamens, of which only the tips reach beyond the corolla lobes, and a slightly longer

style Style, or styles may refer to: Film and television * ''Style'' (2001 film), a Hindi film starring Sharman Joshi, Riya Sen, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal * ''Style'' (2002 film), a Tamil drama film * ''Style'' (2004 film), a Burmese film * '' ...

. The ovary has four

locule A locule (: locules) or loculus (; : loculi) is a small cavity or compartment within an organ or part of an organism (animal, plant, or fungus). In angiosperms (flowering plants), the term ''locule'' usually refers to a chamber within an ovary ...

s and the stigma has four spreading lobes. The fruit are 4-locular

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

s, red in colour, more or less spherical, and about diameter. The

calyx CALYX, Inc. is a non-profit publisher of art and literature by women founded in 1976 based in Corvallis, Oregon. CALYX publishes both '' CALYX, A Journal of Art and Literature by Women'' twice a year and CALYX Books, which publishes one to three ...

persists at the apex of the fruit. They contain one pale brown seed per locule, measuring about long.

Distribution and habitat

This plant is endemic to a small part of northeastern Queensland, where it grows as an understory plant in coastal and sub-coastal rainforests. It ranges from

Cape Tribulation Cape Tribulation is a headland and coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas in northern Queensland, Australia. In the , Cape Tribulation had a population of 123 people. Geography The locality is north of Cairns. It is within the Daintree N ...

in the north to about Mission Beach in the south, at altitudes from sea level to about .

Conservation

This species is listed as

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

under the Queensland Government's

Nature Conservation Act The ''Nature Conservation Act 1992'' is an act of the Parliament of Queensland, Australia, that, together with subordinate legislation, provides for the legislative protection of Queensland's threatened biota. As originally published, it prov ...

. , it has not been assessed by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

(IUCN).

Gallery

File:Ixora baileyana 370255141.jpg, Foliage File:Ixora baileyana 370254783.jpg, Flowers File:Ixora baileyana 370254261.jpg, Ripe fruit File:Ixora baileyana 370254778.jpg, Fruit and seeds

References

External links

View a map
of herbarium collections 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 ...

View images
of this species on Flickriver.com {{Taxonbar, from=Q15464947 baileyana Endemic flora of Queensland Taxa named by Diane Mary Bridson Plants described in 1987