''Cerbera inflata'', commonly known as the cassowary plum, grey milkwood, Joojooga, or rubber tree, is a plant in the family
Apocynaceae endemic to north east
Queensland, specifically the
Atherton Tablelands and adjacent areas.
Description
The cassowary plum is a tree up to in height with a grey fissured trunk. Leaves are
glabrous (smooth),
lanceolate, dull green above and paler below, and crowded towards the end of the twigs. They measure from long and wide with 33 to 37 lateral veins. All parts of the tree produces a copious milky
sap when cut.
[
The inflorescence is a much branched cyme up to with usually more than 50 flowers. The flowers have 5 white sepals, a long corolla tube about in length by wide with 5 free lobes at the end. They are white with a cream or green centre, are about in diameter, and have a sweet scent.][
Fruits are a bright blue/purple ]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'') ...
measuring about long by wide, slightly pointed and the end away from the pedicel (stem), with a single large seed.[
]
Taxonomy
The species was first described by S. T. Blake
in 1948 in the ''Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland
''Proceedings of The Royal Society of Queensland'' is a multidisciplinary scientific journal
In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new re ...
'' as ''Cerbera dilatata''.[ That name was subsequently found to be a '' nomen illegitimum'' as it had already been applied to another plant in 1927][ and so it was renamed ''C. inflata'' in 1959.]
Etymology
The species epithet Specific name may refer to:
* in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database
In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules:
* Specific name (botany)
A botanical name ...
derives from the Latin ''inflatus'', meaning "inflated" and referring to the corolla tube.
Notes on taxa
There is potential confusion regarding the taxon ''C. dilatata''. To clarify, ''C. dilatata'' Markgr.
Friedrich Markgraf (1 February 1897 in Berlin-Friedenau – 8 March 1987 in Zurich) was a German botanist.
Life and work
After secondary school, Markgraf studied biology at the Friedrich Wilhelm University Berlin. In 1922 he was awarded a ...
was first described in 1927, but has since been determined to be a synonym of ''C. odollam'' Gaertn..[ ''C. inflata'' was originally named ''C. dilatata'' S. T. Blake but was renamed in 1959 due to the earlier usage.][ Of these three taxa, only ''C. odollam'' and ''C. inflata'' are now considered legitimate, however there are still many references and sightings labelled with ''Cerbera dilatata'', and any that occur outside Australia are likely to be ''Cerbera odollam''.
]
Distribution and habitat
''Cerbera inflata'' is endemic to Queensland. It grows in well developed rainforest in the foothills and uplands from Innisfail to the Atherton Tablelands. The altitudinal range is from .[
]
Ecology
Cassowaries eat the fallen fruit whole, and are the major dispersal agent for the species.[
]
Gallery
File:Cerbera inflata 165702217.jpg , Spirally arranged leaves
File:Cerbera inflata 175244821.jpg , Fruit
File:Cerbera inflata 237847962.jpg ,
File:Cerbera inflata 237847977.jpg ,
File:Cerbera_inflata_238825531.jpg , Trunk
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=Q15397464
inflata
Taxa named by Stanley Thatcher Blake
Plants described in 1948
Endemic flora of Queensland
Trees of Australia