''Atractocarpus merikin'', commonly known as the mountain gardenia or merikin, is a plant in the Rubiaceae family endemic to northeast Queensland, Australia.

Description

''Atractocarpus merikin'' is an evergreen shrub growing up to in height, occasionally , with separate male and female plants. The dark green leaves are arranged in opposite pairs and may be up to long by wide. They are narrow at the base and broadest near the far end of the blade, and the base is auriclulate and sessile or almost sessile. The inflorescences may consist of

panicle 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 panicle are of ...

s, fascicles or solitary flowers, and are produced in the leaf

axils 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 ...

. The white fragrant flowers have 5 petals and measure about diameter. The

calyx Calyx or calyce (plural "calyces"), from the Latin ''calix'' which itself comes from the Ancient Greek ''κάλυξ'' (''kálux'') meaning "husk" or "pod", may refer to: Biology * Calyx (anatomy), collective name for several cup-like structures ...

lobes are about long, the corolla tube about long. The fruit is an orange, pink or reddish

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'') ...

between long and wide, containing numerous brown patelliform (i.e. like a shallow dish) seeds.

Phenology

Flowering occurs from October to February, fruits ripen from July to February.

Taxonomy

This species was first described in 1902 by the English born Australian botanist Frederick Manson Bailey in his book ''The Queensland Flora'', in which he gave it the name ''Gardenia merikin''. In 1999 the Australian botanist

Christopher Francis Puttock Christopher Francis Puttock (born 1954), often cited as C.F.Puttock, is an Australian botanist and taxonomist who has interests in the Rubiaceae and Asteraceae flowering plant families as well as Pteridophyta (ferns) and Rhodophyta (red algae ...

transferred the taxon to the genus ''

Atractocarpus ''Atractocarpus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. Its members are commonly known as native gardenias in Australia. The genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek terms ''atractos'' "spindle", and ''karpos'' "fruit", fro ...

'', which is the current combination.

Etymology

The genus name ''Atractocarpus'' is created from the Ancient Greek words ''atractos'' (spindle) and ''karpos'' (fruit). It refers to the shape of the fruit of the type species, ''

Atractocarpus bracteatus ''Atractocarpus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. Its members are commonly known as native gardenias in Australia. The genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek terms ''atractos'' "spindle", and ''karpos'' "fruit", fr ...

''. The species epithet ''merikin'' is the local indigenous name for the plant.

Distribution and habitat

Merikin grows in well developed

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

from Mt Spurgeon (source of the Mossman River), to the

Tully River The Tully River is a river located in Far North Queensland, Far North Queensland, Australia. Course and features The Tully River rises in the Cardwell Range, part of the Great Dividing Range on the northern boundary of the Kirrama State Fores ...

, at altitudes from around to .

Conservation

This species is listed by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science as least concern. , it has not been assessed by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

Gallery

File:Atractocarpus merikin 224176899.jpg, Leaf File:Atractocarpus merikin 224176920.jpg, Leaf underside File:Atractocarpus merikin 224176861.jpg, Fruit File:Atractocarpus merikin 224176956.jpg, Foliage

References

External links

* *
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 {{Taxonbar , from=Q15399989

merikin The Merikins or Merikens were African-American Marines of the War of 1812 – former African slaves who fought for the British against the US in the Corps of Colonial Marines and then, after post-war service in Bermuda, were established as a com ...

Endemic flora of Queensland Taxa named by Christopher Francis Puttock Plants described in 1999