''Myoporum platycarpum'', known by several common names including sugarwood, false sandalwood and ngural 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 The Scrophulariaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the figwort family. The plants are annual and perennial herbs, as well as shrubs. Flowers have bilateral (zygomorphic) or rarely radial (actinomorphic) symmetry. The Scr ...

. It is rounded with bright green foliage as a young shrub and roughly fissured, dark grey bark when mature. Sugarwood is endemic to the southern half of continental Australia.

Description

Sugarwood is a rounded shrub or small tree growing to a height of with foliage and branches that are

glabrous Glabrousness () is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes, or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of a plant or animal, or be due to loss because of a physical condition, ...

but often covered with small raised, wart-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 ...

. The bark on mature specimens is rough, dark grey, flaky bark. Its leaves are arranged alternately and are usually long, wide, linear to elliptic in shape and usually have small teeth or serrations in the outer half. The leaves are often curved or have a hook on the end and both surfaces are deep green in colour. The flowers are borne in groups of about 5 to 8 (sometimes more or fewer) on a stalk long. The flowers have five triangular

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 five

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 bases to form a tube. The petals are white or very pale pink to purple sometimes spotted orange or yellow. The tube is about long and the lobes are spreading, blunt and long. The inside of the tube and part of the lobes are hairy. 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 which extend beyond the petals. The main flowering season is from August to November and the fruits that follow are green and fleshy at first but dry when mature.

Taxonomy and naming

''Myoporum platycarpum'' was first formally described by botanist

Robert Brown Robert Brown may refer to: Robert Brown (born 1965), British Director, Animator and author Entertainers and artists * Washboard Sam or Robert Brown (1910–1966), American musician and singer * Robert W. Brown (1917–2009), American printmaker ...

in ''

Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae ''Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen'' (Prodromus of the Flora of New Holland and Van Diemen's Land) is a book by the botanist Robert Brown Robert Brown may refer to: Robert Brown (born 1965), British Director, Animator and ...

'' in 1810. There are two subspecies: * ''Myoporum platycarpum'' R.Br. subsp. ''platycarpum'' has petal lobes that are shorter than the petal tube and as a mature tree has curved or bending branches; * ''Myoporum platycarpum'' subsp. ''perbellum'' Chinnock has petal lobes that are equal to or longer than the petal tube and as a mature tree has straight branches. 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 ...

''platycarpum'' is derived from the ancient Greek ''platys'' (πλατύς), broad, flat; ''karpos'' (καρπός), fruit.Backer, C.A. (1936). ''Verklarend woordenboek der wetenschappelijke namen van de in Nederland en Nederlandsch-Indië in het wild groeiende en in tuinen en parken gekweekte varens en hoogere planten'' (Edition Nicoline van der Sijs). The epithet ''perbellum'' is from the "Latin, ''perbellum'' very beautiful".

Distribution and habitat

Both subspecies of ''M. platycarpum'' occur in inland areas 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 ...

, north-western Victoria and the southern half of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. Only subspecies ''platycarpum'' occurs in south-eastern

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

and in the far south east 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 ...

. It often grows in mallee or Belah woodland.

Uses

Horticulture

Sugarwood is a hardy and attractive plant useful for shade, shelter or as a screening plant in drier climates.

Timber

Sugarwood is hard and dense, yellow and streaked brown with small black features. It smells of sugar when it is worked.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17745749 platycarpum Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Flora of South Australia Flora of Victoria (state) Lamiales of Australia Plants described in 1810 Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)