''Acronychia oblongifolia'', commonly known as white aspen or yellow wood, is a species of shrub to medium-sized rainforest tree of the citrus family, Rutaceae, and 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 elsew ...

to eastern Australia. It has mostly simple, egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, small groups of creamy-white flowers and fleshy, more or less spherical, edible fruit.

Description

''Acronychia oblongifolia'' grows as a shrub or medium-sized tree sometimes to high. The trunk is dark brown and generally smooth, sometimes with fine wrinkles, fissures or pustules. The leaves are mostly simple, arranged in opposite pairs, lance-shaped to egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide on a petiole long. The leaves are leathery, dark green, aromatic and sometimes

trifoliate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

. The flowers are creamy-white and arranged in small groups long, usually in leaf

axil A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...

s, each flower about wide on a

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 four

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 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s are wide, the four

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s long and there are eight

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s that alternate in length. Flowering occurs from February to June and the fruit is a fleshy, white, yellow or purplish, more or less spherical

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...

long, that matures from May to December. The fruit are four-lobed and have a tuft of hairs on the end. Floyd, Alexander G., ''Rainforest Trees of Mainland South-eastern Australia'', Inkata Press 2008, pp. 346–347.

Taxonomy

The white aspen was first formally described in 1934 by

William Jackson Hooker Sir William Jackson Hooker (6 July 178512 August 1865) was an English botanist and botanical illustrator, who became the first director of Kew when in 1841 it was recommended to be placed under state ownership as a botanic garden. At Kew he ...

in ''

The Botanical Magazine ''The Botanical Magazine; or Flower-Garden Displayed'', is an illustrated publication which began in 1787. The longest running botanical magazine, it is widely referred to by the subsequent name ''Curtis's Botanical Magazine''. Each of the issue ...

'' from an unpublished description by Allan Cunningham. Cunningham gave it the name ''Cyminosma oblongifolia''. In 1840,

Stephan Endlicher Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher also known as Endlicher István László (24 June 1804, Bratislava (Pozsony) – 28 March 1849, Vienna) was an Austrian botanist, numismatist and Sinologist. He was a director of the Botanical Garden of Vienna. Bio ...

proposed changing the name to ''Acronychia oblongifolia'' and the change was published by the German botanist Gustav Heynhold in his book ''Alphabetische und Synonymische Aufzahlung der in der Jahren 1840 bis 1846 in den europäischen Gärten eingeführten Gewächse nebst Angabe ihres Autors''. The specific name, 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 of the ...

''folium'' 'leaf', refers to the oblong shape of the leaves.

Distribution and habitat

White aspen is found from near Gympie in central-eastern Queensland, south through eastern New South Wales to a few rainforest communities in eastern Victoria. Its natural habitat is rainforest and rainforest margin. Mostly shrubby, the places where ''Acronychia oblongifolia'' reaches tree size include the rainforest of the McPherson Range on the New South Wales/Queensland border, and the Mitchell River Gorge in Victoria.

Ecology

The fruit are ripe between May and November (to January in Victoria) and are consumed by the green catbird, regent bowerbird, satin bowerbird,

pied currawong The pied currawong (''Strepera graculina'') is a black passerine bird native to eastern Australia and Lord Howe Island. One of three currawong species in the genus ''Strepera'', it is closely related to the butcherbirds and Australian magpie of ...

, topknot pigeon,

white-headed pigeon The white-headed pigeon (''Columba leucomela'') is a pigeon native to the east coast of Australia. Taxonomy and systematics The pigeon family is a group of stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills with a worldwide distribut ...

, blue-faced honeyeater and

wompoo fruit dove The wompoo fruit dove (''Ptilinopus magnificus''), also known as wompoo pigeon, is one of the larger fruit doves native to New Guinea and eastern Australia. Taxonomy and systematics Subspecies There are generally 7-8 recognised subspecies, ...

Uses

Use in horticulture

''Acronychia oblongifolia'' is fairly readily cultivated in a well-drained soil with a sunny aspect, and benefits from extra water and fertiliser. It is somewhat frost tender when young. It is propagated by seed or cutting.

Use in food

Reported to have an aromatic lemon/orange flavour, the berries can be served with salads and side dishes or served cooked with seafood or poultry. They can also be used in

preserves Fruit preserves are preparations of fruits whose main preserving agent is sugar and sometimes acid, often stored in glass jars and used as a condiment or spread. There are many varieties of fruit preserves globally, distinguished by the method ...

, sauces, juices and cocktails.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4676368 oblongifolia Trees of Australia Flora of Queensland Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (state)