''Flindersia brayleyana'', commonly known as Queensland maple, maple silkwood or red beech, is a species of tree in the family

Rutaceae The Rutaceae () is a family (biology), family, commonly known as the rueRUTACEAE
in Bo ...

and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to northern Queensland. It has

pinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and ...

leaves with between six and ten leaflets,

panicle In botany, a panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a p ...

s of white or cream-coloured flowers and smooth fruit that opens in five sections to release winged seeds.

Description

''Flindersia brayleyana'' is a tree that typically grows to a height of . It has pinnate leaves arranged in more or less opposite pairs with between six and ten egg-shaped to elliptical leaflets that are long and wide on petiolules long. The leaves have many conspicuous oil dots. The flowers are arranged in panicles 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 about long and the petals white or cream-coloured, long. The fruit is a smooth, woody capsule long that splits into five at maturity, releasing seeds long.

Taxonomy

''Flindersia brayleyana'' was first formally described in 1866 by

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Victoria, Australia ...

in ''

Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae ''Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae'' is a series of papers written by the Victorian Government botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in which he published many of his approximately 2000 descriptions of new taxa of Australian plants. Including the p ...

'' from specimens collected near the

Herbert River The Herbert River is a river in Far North Queensland, Australia. The southernmost of Queensland's wet tropics river systems, it was named in 1864 by George Elphinstone Dalrymple explorer, after Robert Herbert, Robert George Wyndham Herbert, th ...

John Dallachy John Dallachy (c. 1808 – 4 June 1871) was a curator of Melbourne Botanic Gardens and a plant collector. Dallachy was born in Elginshire, Scotland. He worked as a gardener for the Earl of Aberdeen and Kew Gardens. In 1847, he went to Ceylon t ...

. 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 ...

(''brayleyana'') honours

Edward William Brayley Edward William Brayley FRS (1801 – 1 February 1870) was an English geographer, librarian, and science author. Early life Brayley was born in London, the son of Edward Wedlake Brayley, a notable antiquary, and his wife Anne (''c.'' 1771–1 ...

Distribution and habitat

Queensland maple grows in rainforest at altitudes between between the

Daintree River The Daintree River is a river that rises in the Daintree Rainforest near Cape Tribulation in Far North Queensland, Australia. The river is located about northwest of Cairns in the UNESCO World Heritagelisted Wet Tropics of Queensland. The area ...

and

Rockingham Bay Rockingham Bay is a bay in Far North Queensland, Australia. The bay opens onto the Coral Sea, part of the South Pacific Ocean. Adjacent to the bay is the Girramay National Park, south of which is the town of Cardwell. Goold Island is a small ...

Conservation status

''Flindersia brayleyana'' is classified as of "least concern" under the Queensland Government ''

Nature Conservation Act 1992 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 ...

''.

Uses

Queensland maple produces a good quality, decorative cabinet timber and has been used in the manufacture of propellers and plywood in

Mosquito bomber The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the World War II, Second World War. Unusual in that its airframe was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden Wonder", or " ...

aircraft and in acoustic guitars. However most specimens are protected in

World Heritage World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

areas, the timber is now in very short supply, and attempts to grow the tree in plantations have failed. Its heartwood is pink to brownish pink whilst the narrow sapwood band is white to pale grey.

References

External links

*
''Flindersia brayleyana'': Occurrence data from Australasian Virtual Herbarium
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5459437 brayleyana Flora of Queensland Sapindales of Australia Trees of Australia Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller Plants described in 1866