''Mitrephora diversifolia'' is a species of flowering plant in the family

Annonaceae The Annonaceae are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants consisting of trees, shrubs, or rarely lianas commonly known as the custard apple family or soursop family. With 108 accepted genera and about 2400 known species, it is the largest ...

and is native to

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 ...

Ambon Island Ambon Island is part of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The island has an area of and is mountainous, well watered, and fertile. Ambon Island consists of two territories: the city of Ambon, Maluku, Ambon to the south, and three districts (''k ...

and New Guinea. It is a tree with egg-shaped leaves, the flowers with cream-coloured and mauve-pink petals, 70 to 85

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s and 10 to 14

carpels Gynoecium (; ; : gynoecia) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ...

. The fruit is egg-shaped containing up to 8 seeds.

Description

''Mitrephora diversifolia'' is a tree that typically grows to a height of up to . Its leaves are egg-shaped, long, wide on a

petiole Petiole may refer to: *Petiole (botany), the stalk of a leaf, attaching the blade to the stem *Petiole (insect anatomy) In entomology, petiole is the technical term for the narrow waist of some hymenopteran insects, especially ants, bees, and ...

long and have 9 to 11 pairs of secondary veins. The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils on a peduncle up to long, the

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

long. The

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s are long and densely hairy. Its outer petals cream-coloured, egg-shaped with the narower end towards the base, long and wide. The inner petals are long and wide, with a mauve-pink, hairy, spade-shaped or arrow-shaped blade. There are 70 to 85

stamens The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filamen ...

and 10 to 14

each containing 10

ovules In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to and contains the female reproductive cells. It consists of three parts: the ''integument'', forming its outer layer, the ''nucellus'' (or remnant of the megasporangium), and the fe ...

. Flowering mostly occurs between October and March, and fruit is egg-shaped, long and wide, containing up to 8 seeds.

Taxonomy

This species was first described in 1841 by

Johan Baptist Spanoghe Johan Baptist Spanoghe (1798, Madras Presidency, Madras – 22 April 1838, Pekalongan, Java) was a Dutch botanical collector of Belgian parentage. A native of Madras, then part of Company rule in India, British India, he became a civil servant wi ...

who gave it the name ''Unona'' ? ''diversifolia'' in the journal ''

Linnaea ''Linnaea borealis'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Caprifoliaceae (the honeysuckle family). It is the only species in the genus ''Linnaea''. It is a boreal to subarctic woodland subshrub, commonly known as twinflower (sometimes ...

''. In 1858,

Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel (24 October 1811 – 23 January 1871) was a Dutch botanist whose main focus of study was on the flora of the Dutch East Indies. Early life Miquel was born in Neuenhaus and studied medicine at the University of Gr ...

transferred the species to the genus ''Mitrephora'' as ''M. diversifolia''. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

(''diversifolia'') means "unlike-" or "different-leaved".

Distribution and habitat

''Mitrephora diversifolia'' grows in vine forest from the tip of

Cape York Peninsula The Cape York Peninsula is a peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth's last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación Sierra Madre, ...

to the

McIlwraith Range The McIlwraith Range is a rugged, dissected granite plateau on Cape York Peninsula of Far North Queensland, Australia. Part of the Great Dividing Range, the McIlwraith Range covers about and lies about east of the town of Coen, and north o ...

and on Ambon Island in Indonesia, and possibly also in New Guinea.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17140141 diversifolia Flora of Indonesia Plants described in 1841 Flora of Queensland Flora of New Guinea