''Myoporum betcheanum'', commonly known as mountain boobialla is a plant in the figwort

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

, Scrophulariaceae. It is a shrub or small tree with long, narrow leaves that are a darker green on their upper surface than the lower. Its flowers have five white petals and are arranged in small groups in the leaf axils. The fruits which follow are more or less spherical, soft, cream coloured

drupes 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 s ...

. As its common name suggests, this plant is restricted to higher places, around above sea level. It occurs in the

McPherson Range The McPherson Range is an extensive mountain range, a spur of the Great Dividing Range, heading in an easterly direction from near Wallangarra, Queensland, Wallangarra to the Pacific Ocean coastline. It forms part of the Scenic Rim on the border ...

and nearby mountains of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and

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

''Myoporum betcheanum'' is a shrub or small tree growing to about high. Its branches often have a few to many small,

wart Warts are non-cancerous viral growths usually occurring on the hands and feet but which can also affect other locations, such as the genitals or face. One or many warts may appear. They are distinguished from cancerous tumors as they are caus ...

-like

tubercles In anatomy, a tubercle (literally 'small tuber', Latin for 'lump') is any round nodule, small eminence, or warty outgrowth found on external or internal organs of a plant or an animal. In plants A tubercle is generally a wart-like projection, b ...

and are moderately to densely hairy. The leaves are long or longer, wide, flat, narrow elliptic in shape and with small teeth on the margins. They are darker on the upper surface, but both surfaces are covered with short, soft hairs. The flowers are arranged in groups of 3 to 8 on a short stalk in the axils of the leaves and have 5

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 and 5 white

petal Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corol ...

s joined at their base to form a tube. The tube is long, the lobes are long and there are 4

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. Flowering occurs between December and May and is followed by fruits which are drupes with three compartments, each with one seed. The fruits are roughly oval to spherical in shape and are smooth, white or cream coloured tinged with pink.

Taxonomy and naming

''Myoporum betcheanum'' was first formally described in 1969 by Lindsay Stuart Smith in ''Contributions from the Queensland Herbarium'' from a specimen collected at

Cunninghams Gap Cunningham's Gap is a pass over the Great Dividing Range between the Darling Downs and the Fassifern Valley in Queensland, Australia. The Gap is the major route over the Main Range along the Great Dividing Range, between Warwick and Brisbane. ...

. 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 ...

(''betcheanum'') honours

Ernst Betche Daniel Ludwig Ernst Betche (31 December 1851, in Potsdam – 28 June 1913, in Sydney) was a German-Australian horticulturist and botanist. His mother died at his birth and he was of delicate constitution all his life. His father was sufficiently ...

who was the first to recognise this as a separate species.

Distribution and habitat

''Myoporum betcheanum'' occurs on the edges of rainforest and in wet forests at above sea level in mountains of the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills. It runs roughl ...

north of

Casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

in New South Wales and in the McPherson Range and nearby mountains in Queensland.

Use in horticulture

''Myoporum betcheanum'' is an attractive species for the garden because although the flowers are small, they are profuse and appear over an extended period. It is readily propagated from cuttings.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17745761 bateae Flora of New South Wales Lamiales of Australia Plants described in 1969