''Elaeocarpus thelmae'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Elaeocarpaceae and is

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 north-east

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_ ...

. It is a tree, often with

buttress root Buttress roots also known as plank roots are large, wide roots on all sides of a shallowly rooted tree. Typically, they are found in nutrient-poor tropical forest soils that may not be very deep. They prevent the tree from falling over (hence t ...

s at the base of the trunk, egg-shaped to elliptic leaves with many hairy domatia, densely rusty-hairy flowers, and blackish, oval fruit.

Description

''Elaeocarpus thelmae'' is a tree that typically grows to a height of , a dbh of and often with buttress roots at the base of the trunk. The leaves are elliptic to egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide on a slender petiole long. The leaves have many hairy domatia near vein junctions and have obscure serration on the edges. The flowers are borne in groups of between five and ten on a rachis long, each flower on a robust

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

long. The flowers have four or five egg-shaped

sepal 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 ...

s long, wide and densely hairy on the back. The four or five petals are about the same size as the sepals with four to six lobes on the tip, and there are fifty to sixty densely-packed

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 ...

s. Flowering occurs in January and the fruit is an blackish, oval

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'') ...

long and wide, present from July to October.

Taxonomy

''Elaeocarpus thelmae'' was first formally described in 1984 by

Bernard Hyland Bernard Hyland (Bernard Patrick Matthew Hyland, born 1937), known as Bernie Hyland, is an Australian botanist. He has contributed significantly to the understanding of Australian plants, in particular numerous species of his home and workplace ...

and Mark James Elgar Coode in the '' Kew Bulletin''.

Distribution and habitat

''Elaeocarpus thelmae'' grows in rainforest in a restricted area on the

Windsor Tablelands The Windsor Tablelands are a series of plateaus located in Far North Queensland, Australia. The Windsor Tableland and surrounding rainforest area are contained as part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland, sitting between the Daintree Rainforest ...

and nearby areas of north-east Queensland, at altitudes of .

Conservation status

This quandong is listed as of "least concern" under the Queensland Government ''

Nature Conservation Act 1992 The ''Nature Conservation Act 1992'' is an act of the Parliament of Queensland, Australia, that, together with subordinate legislation, provides for the legislative protection of Queensland's threatened biota. As originally published, it prov ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15318918 Oxalidales of Australia thelmae Flora of Queensland Plants described in 1984 Endemic flora of Australia