''Cryptocarya meissneriana'', known as the thick-leaved laurel is a small tree growing in eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The habitat is

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 ...

on the poorer sedimentary soils. The natural range of distribution is from the

Wangat River Wangat River, a perennial river of the Hunter River catchment, is located in the Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. Course and features Wangat River rises below Gloucester Tops, west of Gloucester Gap, within Barrington Tops Nationa ...

(32° S) in the

Barrington Tops Barrington Tops is part of the Great Dividing Range in New South Wales, Australia, between Gloucester and Scone. In 1934, the area was difficult to access and was described as being "not traceable to any man-made feature". Part of the area has ...

to the

Logan River The Logan River ( Yugambeh: ''Dugulumba'') is a perennial river located in the Scenic Rim, Logan and Gold Coast local government areas of the South East region of Queensland, Australia. The -long river is one of the dominant waterways in South ...

(27° S) in south eastern

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. This tree was named after

Carl Meissner Carl Daniel Friedrich Meissner (1 November 1800 – 2 May 1874) was a Swiss botanist. Biography Born in Bern, Switzerland on 1 November 1800, he was christened Meisner but later changed the spelling of his name to Meissner. For most of his 40 ...

, a Swiss botanist.

Description

''Cryptocarya meissneriana'' is a small tree, reaching 10 metres in height and with a trunk diameter of 25 cm. The bark is brown, mostly smooth with vertical lines of bumps. Leaves alternate, simple, narrow, with a prominent tip. Not particularly thick as the common name might suggest, 5 to 9 cm long. Glossy green above, paler below. Sometimes

glaucous ''Glaucous'' (, ) is used to describe the pale grey or bluish-green appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the glaucous gull (''Larus hyperboreus''), glaucous-winged gull (''Larus glaucescens''), g ...

underneath. The mid vein is depressed on the upper surface and raised on the lower side of the leaf. Small branches are smooth and green. Tiny, pale green or cream flowers form on

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 in the months of October to January. The fruit is a black fleshy

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'') ...

, around 15 mm long. Like many

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

Cryptocarya ''Cryptocarya'' is a genus of evergreen trees belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. The genus includes more than 350 species, distributed through the Neotropical, Afrotropical, Indomalayan, and Australasian realms. Overview The genus inc ...

, the fruit is ribbed and pointed. Fruit matures from March to April. Regeneration from fresh seed is slow but fairly reliable. Removal of the fleshy black

aril An aril (pronounced ), also called an arillus, is a specialized outgrowth from a seed that partly or completely covers the seed. An arillode or false aril is sometimes distinguished: whereas an aril grows from the attachment point of the see ...

is advised to assist germination.

References

* *

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q5190849 Trees of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Laurales of Australia meissneriana