''Litsea reticulata'' is a common

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 ...

n tree, growing from near Milton, New South Wales to the

Bunya Mountains The Bunya Mountains are a distinctive set of peaks forming an isolated section of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland. The mountain range forms the northern edge of the Darling Downs in the locality also called Bunya Mountains, Quee ...

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 ...

. Common names include bollygum, bolly wood and brown beech. The habitat of the bollygum is

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 ...

of most types, except the dryer forms.

Taxonomy

''Litsea reticulata'' was first described by Meisner in 1864 as ''Tetranthera reticulata'', before being given its current name by von Mueller in 1882. Common names include bolly gum, bolly beech, brown beech, brown bolly beech, sycamore, brown Bollywood, soft bollygum, and brown bollygum.

Description

''Litsea reticulata'' is a medium to large size tree, occasionally reaching 40 metres in height and a 150 cm in trunk diameter. The bark is a grey, brown and scaly, with numerous depressions caused by the shedding of round scales of bark, colloquially known as "bollies". Exposed bark is a paler colour, giving the trunk a patchy appearance. ''Litsea reticulata'' are slightly buttressed or flanged at the base.

Leaves, flowers and fruit

The leaves are alternate, not toothed. 5 to 10 cm long, blunt or slightly pointed, the leaves are veiny underneath. Leaf stalks are 5 to 12 mm long. Litsea reticulata is

dioecious Dioecy ( ; ; adj. dioecious, ) is a characteristic of certain species that have distinct unisexual individuals, each producing either male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproduction is ...

(male and female flowers are on separate trees). Flowers cream or green with pink. Flowering period is May to July. The fruit matures from November to April, being a purple/black 14 mm long

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 ...

, in a green cup shaped receptacle, with a single seed, 11 mm long. Seed germination can be slow.(other publication details, included in citation)
/ref> However, at other times, 60% germination result can be achieved within a month of sowing. The flesh should be removed from the fruit before sowing the seeds. Fruit are eaten by many rainforest birds, including the wompoo fruit dove,

catbird Several unrelated groups of songbirds are called catbirds because of their wailing calls, which resemble a cat's meowing. The genus name ''Ailuroedus'' likewise is from the Greek for 'cat-singer' or 'cat-voiced'. Australasian catbirds are ...

, topknot pigeon and white-headed pigeon.

Gallery

Image:Litsea reticulata trunk.JPG, ''Litsea reticulata'' growing near the

Hacking River The Hacking River is a perennial stream, watercourse located to the south of Sydney, New South Wales in Australia. For thousands of years the indigenous Tharawal people, Tharawal (or Dharwal) people called the river Deeban. British colonial s ...

Image:Litsea reticulata fruit - Foxground NSW.jpg, ''Litsea reticulata'' fruit Foxground,

Image:Litsea reticulata - seedlings.jpg, ''Litsea reticulata'' seedlings

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6648753 reticulata 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