''Dysoxylum parasiticum'', known as yellow mahogany, is a species of rainforest trees in the family

Meliaceae Meliaceae, the mahogany family, is a flowering plant family of mostly trees and shrubs (and a few herbaceous plants, mangroves) in the order Sapindales. They are characterised by alternate, usually pinnate leaves without stipules, and by syncarp ...

. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

' is from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

meaning "parasitic", referring to the idea (now known to be incorrect) that the flowers are parasitic on another tree species.

Taxonomy and naming

Swedish naturalist

Pehr Osbeck Pehr Osbeck (1723 – 23 December 1805) was a Swedish explorer, naturalist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus. He was born in the parish of Hålanda on Västergötland and studied at Uppsala with Carolus Linnaeus. Naturalist in Canton In 1750� ...

described this species as ''Melia parasitica'' in 1751, before it was transferred to the genus ''

Dysoxylum ''Dysoxylum'' is a flowering plant genus of trees and shrubs from the mahogany family, Meliaceae. Botanical science has recorded about eighty species in this genus, growing widely across the regions of Malesia, the western Pacific ocean, Austra ...

'' by Indonesian botanist

André Joseph Guillaume Henri Kostermans Dr. André Joseph Guillaume Henri 'Dok' Kostermans (Purworejo, 1 July 1906 – Jakarta, 10 July 1994) was an Indonesian botanist of Dutch ancestry. He was born in Purworejo, Java, Dutch East Indies, and educated at Utrecht University, taking his ...

in 1966. Australian populations were known as ''Dysoxylum schiffneri''. The

Bajau people The Sama-Bajau include several Austronesian ethnic groups of Maritime Southeast Asia. The name collectively refers to related people who usually call themselves the Sama or Samah (formally A'a Sama, "Sama people"); or are known by the exony ...

of Sabah know it as ''jarum-jarum'', while it is commonly known as yellow mahogany in Queensland.

Description

''Dysoxylum parasiticum'' trees grow up to tall with a trunk that has a diameter of up to and up to buttresses. The smooth bark is yellowish to grey-brown. The sweetly scented flowers are white or creamish-coloured. The red-brown fruits are roundish, and up to in diameter. Both flowers and fruits grow directly off the trunk (

cauliflory Cauliflory is a botanical term referring to plants that flower and fruit from their main stems or woody trunks, rather than from new growth and shoots. This can allow trees to be pollinated or have their seeds dispersed by animals that climb o ...

) to near ground level, or off the large branches (

ramiflory In plant biology, ramiflory is the production of fruit and flowers on the woody branch A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large bran ...

Distribution and habitat

''Dysoxylum parasiticum'' trees grow naturally in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

and throughout

Malesia Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Indomalayan and Australasian realms, and also a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical Kingdom. It has been given different definitions. The ...

, to

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

, the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

and

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_ ...

. Their habitat is rainforest from sea-level to altitude. In Queensland they are found from sea level to , in such areas in the northeast as

Mount Bellenden Ker Mount Bellenden Ker is the second-highest mountain in Queensland, Australia, with a height of . It is named after the botanist John Bellenden Ker Gawler. Located south of Cairns, Queensland, Cairns near Babinda, Queensland, Babinda, it is adj ...

Uses

''Dysoxylum parasiticum'' has potential as a feature tree in parks or gardens in areas with subtropical or tropical climates. It prefers acid soils with good drainage and dappled sun or part-shade. The species can be propagated by fresh seed.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10937517 parasiticum Trees of Taiwan Trees of Malesia Trees of Papuasia Trees of Australia Flora of Queensland Plants described in 1966