''Bosistoa'' is a genus of four species of tree in the family

Rutaceae The Rutaceae is a family, commonly known as the rueRUTACEAE
in BoDD – Botanical Derm ...

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. They have simple or compound leaves arranged in opposite pairs and

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

flowers arranged in

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, each flower with five

sepals 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 ...

, five white

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 and ten

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 ...

Description

Plants in the genus ''Bosistoa'' are trees with simple or compound leaves arranged in opposite pairs and lack

domatia A domatium (plural: domatia, from the Latin "domus", meaning home) is a tiny chamber that houses arthropods, produced by a plant. Ideally domatia differ from galls in that they are produced by the plant rather than being induced by their inhabi ...

. The flowers are bisexual, usually with five sepals fused at the base, sometimes almost for their full length, and five white petals. There are ten stamens that alternate in length. The fruit is a single or pair of follicles joined at the base with a woody

exocarp Fruit anatomy is the plant anatomy of the internal structure of fruit. Fruits are the mature ovary or ovaries of one or more flowers. They are found in three main anatomical categories: aggregate fruits, multiple fruits, and simple fruits. Aggr ...

. Each follicle contains a single smooth brown seed.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Bosistoa'' was first formally described in 1863 by

George Bentham George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studi ...

from an unpublished description by

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 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 Vict ...

and the description was published in ''

Flora Australiensis ''Flora Australiensis: a description of the plants of the Australian Territory'', more commonly referred to as ''Flora Australiensis'', and also known by its standard abbreviation ''Fl. Austral.'', is a seven-volume flora of Australia published be ...

''. The name ''Bosistoa'' honours the Melbourne pharmacist,

Joseph Bosisto Joseph Bosisto CMG, MLA JP (21 March 1827 – 8 November 1898), was a chemist and politician in colonial Victoria, Australia. Background Bosisto was the son of William Bosisto and Maria née Lazenby, of Cookham, Berkshire, and was born on 21 M ...

. In 1977,

Thomas Hartley Thomas Hartley (September 7, 1748December 21, 1800) was an American lawyer, soldier, and politician from York, Pennsylvania. Early life and education Hartley was born in Colebrookdale Township in the Province of Pennsylvania. At 18 years of ...

described seven species of ''Bosistoa'' and five varieties, but from a study of specimens collected since then, the number of accepted species has been reduced and the varieties dispensed with. The species described by Hartley but no longer accepted by the

Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Syst ...

are ''B. brassii'', ''B. monostylis'' and ''B. selwynii''. ''Bosistoa brassii'' is an accepted name in Queensland with ''B. brassii'' var. ''proserpinensis'' regarded as a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

of ''B. medicinalis''.

Species list

*''

Bosistoa floydii ''Bosistoa floydii'', commonly known as the five-leaf bosistoa or five-leaved bonewood, is a species of small rainforest tree that is endemic to north-eastern New South Wales. It has pinnate leaves usually with five elliptic leaflets, and panicl ...

T.G.Hartley Thomas Gordon Hartley (9 January 1931 in Beaumont, Texas – 8 March 2016 in Canberra, Australia) was an American botanist. Biography In 1955 Hartley graduated in botany with the academic degree Bachelor of Science at the University of Wisconsin- ...

- five-leaf bosistoa, five-leaved bonewood (N.S.W.) *''

Bosistoa medicinalis ''Bosistoa medicinalis'', commonly known as the northern towra or Eumundi bosistoa, is a species of small to medium-sized rainforest tree that is endemic to Queensland. It has simple and pinnate leaves with two or three leaflets and panicles of ...

'' (F.Muell.) T.G.Hartley - northern towra, Eumundi bosistoa (Qld.) *''

Bosistoa pentacocca ''Bosistoa pentacocca'', commonly known as ferny-leaf bosistoa, native almond or union nut, is a species of tree that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has pinnate leaves arranged in opposite pairs with between three and thirteen leaflets and p ...

'' (F.Muell.)

Baill. Henri Ernest Baillon was a French botanist and physician. He was born in Calais on 30 November 1827 and died in Paris on 19 July 1895. Baillon spent his professional life as a professor of natural history, and he published numerous works on ...

- ferny-leaf bosistoa, native almond, union nut (Qld., N.S.W.) **''Bosistoa pentacocca'' subsp. ''connaricarpa'' (

Domin Karel Domin (4 May 1882, Kutná Hora, Kingdom of Bohemia – 10 June 1953, Prague) was a Czech botanist and politician. After gymnasium school studies in Příbram, he studied botany at the Charles University in Prague, and graduated in 1906 ...

) P.I.Forst. **''Bosistoa pentacocca'' (F.Muell.) Baill. subsp. ''pentacocca'' *''

Bosistoa transversa ''Bosistoa transversa'', commonly known as the yellow satinheart, or three-leaved bosistoa, is a species of small to medium-sized rainforest tree that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has mostly pinnate leaves, usually with three leaflets and ...

'' J.F.Bailey &

C.T.White Cyril Tenison ("C.T.") White (17 August 1890 – 15 August 1950) was an Australian botanist. Early life White was born in Brisbane to Henry White, a trade broker, and Louisa ''nee'' Bailey. He attended school at South Brisbane State School, an ...

Distribution and habitat

Trees in the genus ''Bosistoa'' are found in rainforest, often dry rainforest and occur in near-coastal areas between tropical north Queensland and northern New South Wales.

References

External links

Photograph of leaves of ''B. transversa'' (syn. ''B. selwynii'')
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q4947284 Zanthoxyloideae genera Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland