''Cyclophyllum longipetalum'', known as the Coast Canthium is a shrub or tree occurring 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 ...

. Commonly seen growing in a variety of different

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 ...

situations. From Lake Conjola in southern

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

to Fraser Island 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_ ...

Description

Occasionally growing to tree size, the tallest trees are 25 metres tall and with a 50 cm trunk diameter. Often seen as a shrub growing at the edge of the

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...

rainforest

ecotone An ecotone is a transition area between two biological communities, where two communities meet and integrate. It may be narrow or wide, and it may be local (the zone between a field and forest) or regional (the transition between forest and gras ...

. The trunk is mostly straight, though sometimes buttressed at the base on larger trees. Bark is grey or brown, with some wrinkles, cracks or fissures. Small branches fairly thick, usually four angled (square in cross section).

Leaves

Leaves opposite on the stem, smooth edged without leaf serrations. 2 to 10 cm long, 1 to 4 cm wide. Leaf venation not particularly obvious on the upper side of the leaf. Leaves sometimes show

foveolae Foveolar cells or surface mucous cells are mucus-producing cells which cover the inside of the stomach, protecting it from the corrosive nature of gastric acid. These cells line the gastric mucosa (mucous neck cells are found in the necks of the ...

at the leaf

axil 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 ...

s. That is (raised bumps where the lateral leaf veins branch off from the main leaf mid vein). Net veins not seen.

Flowers & fruit

Fragrant creamy golden brown flowers form from January to March. The fruit is a fleshy orange/red

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 10 mm long. Seen from October to January. Within the fruit are often two seeds, one each within the two lobes of the hard capsule, surrounded by the glossy red ''aril''.

References

* * longipetalum Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Trees of Australia Taxa named by Sally T. Reynolds Taxa named by Rodney John Francis Henderson {{Ixoroideae-stub