Archidendron Vaillantii

''Archidendron vaillantii'', commonly known as the salmon bean, is an evergreen tree in the legume family Fabaceae. It is endemic to the rainforests of northeast Queensland.

Description

''Archidendron vaillantii'' is a tree growing up to high and a DBH up to . The large evenly bipinnate leaves are around wide and long with usually 2 pairs of leaflets or pinnae, which in turn are further divided into 2-4 pairs of subleaflets or pinnules (see Gallery). The subleaflets are dark glossy green, elliptic to orbicular and slightly asymmetric, measuring up to , and have very short petioles.

The inflorescences are axillary or terminal panicles, each a cluster of 4–8 flowers on pedicels about long. Flowers are yellowish, the calyx greenish, up to long with 5 petals.

The fruit is a twisted or tightly coiled dehiscent pod, red on the outside and yellow inside, up to long by wide, containing a number of glossy black seeds about long.

Taxonomy

This species was first described in April 1865 by the German born Victorian Government botanist Ferdinand von Mueller, who published a description in his tome ''Fragmenta phytographiæ Australiæ''. His description was based on material collected by John Dallachy in the Seaview Range west of Ingham. Mueller revised his description later in the same year and transferred the species to ''Archidendron''.

The taxon was reviewed twice more — first by Carl Ernst Otto Kuntze in 1891, giving it the combination ''Affonsea vailantii'', and then by Alfred James Ewart in 1907 who described a subspecies ''Albizia vaillantii'' var. ''pentzkeana'', however, neither of these names are now accepted.

Etymology

The genus name ''Archidendron'' is a combination of the Latin prefix '' archi-'' meaning "main", "chief" or "leading", and the Ancient Greek word '' δένδρον'' (''déndron''), meaning "tree". The species epithet ''vaillantii'' was coined by Mueller to honour the French botanist Sébastien Vaillant.

Distribution and habitat

The salmon bean is restricted to the coastal area from about Rossville south to the Paluma Range National Park. It grows in the rainforests on various soils at altitudes from sea level to .

Conservation

This species, which is endemic to Queensland, has been classified by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science (DES) as least concern, but DES provides no explanation as to the process of, or the reason for, this assessment.

In September 2010 the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) assessed it as near threatened. The justification for this assessment published by IUCN cites the reduction of the species' natural habitat, and the existence of the pathogen ''Phytophthora cinnamomi'' within its range.

Gallery

File:Archidendron-vaillantii-SF23036-17.jpg, The compound leaf
File:Archidendron-vaillantii-SF23036-06.jpg, Foliage
File:Archidendron-vaillantii-SF23036-10.jpg, Flowers
File:Archidendron-vaillantii-SF23036-05.jpg, Tree


File:Archidendron-vaillantii-SF23036-08.jpg, Fruit
File:Archidendron-vaillantii-SF23037-01.jpg, Fruit with a standard 30cm/12in ruler
File:Archidendron-vaillantii-SF23036-15.jpg, Trunk
File:Archidendron-vaillantii-SF23037-07.jpg, Sunken gland on the rachis, an identification feature

References

External links

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View a map
of historical sightings of this species at the Australasian Virtual Herbarium

View observations
of this species on iNaturalist

View images
of this species on Flickriver

vaillantii
Endemic flora of Queensland
Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller
Plants described in 1865

{{Taxonbar , from=Q5702749