''Xylomelum occidentale'', commonly known as the western woody pear, is a tree
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...
in the family
Proteaceae. It is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found els ...
to
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...
.
Taxonomy
The names for the plant used by
Noongar
The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...
peoples are danja, dumbung or koongal. It was first described by Robert Brown in 1830.
[ The species name is derived from the ]Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...
adjective ''occidentalis'', meaning 'western'.
Description
The tree or shrub typically grows to a height of and has epicormic buds. It blooms between December and February producing cream white flowers. The surface of the flower is finely covered in silky hairs, the colour is a sulphurous yellow, they appear on spikes at the end of its branches. The fruit closely resembles a 'pear', those of genus ''Pyrus
Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in the Northern Hemisphere in late summer into October. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the family Rosaceae, bearing the po ...
'', are over three inches long, one and three quarter inches wide, and deeply split along one edge after ripening. The margins of the leaves are spiny. The bark is greyish to black, finely cracked, and persists on the tree.
Distribution
It is found in the South West
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
, Peel
Peel or Peeling may refer to:
Places Australia
* Peel (Western Australia)
* Peel Island, Queensland
*Peel, New South Wales
* Peel River (New South Wales)
Canada
* Peel Parish, New Brunswick
* Peel, New Brunswick, an unincorporated communi ...
and Swan Coastal Plain
The Swan Coastal Plain in Western Australia is the geographic feature which contains the Swan River as it travels west to the Indian Ocean. The coastal plain continues well beyond the boundaries of the Swan River and its tributaries, as a geo ...
regions of Western Australia where it grows in sandy soils. The species has broader leaves than its sister '' Xylomelum angustifolium'', found to the east, although the fruit is similar.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q8045462
occidentale
Proteales of Australia
Trees of Australia
Trees of Mediterranean climate
Eudicots of Western Australia
Plants described in 1830
Endemic flora of Southwest Australia