''Elaeocarpus williamsianus'', commonly known as hairy quandong, is a species of flowering plant in the family

Elaeocarpaceae Elaeaocarpaceae is a family of flowering plants. The family contains approximately 615 species of trees and shrubs in 12 genera."Elaeocarpaceae" In: Klaus Kubitzki (ed.). ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'' vol. VI. Springer-Verlag: Be ...

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 a restricted area of north-eastern New South Wales. It is a small tree with lance-shaped leaves,

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

s of greenish-white flowers and spherical blue fruit.

Description

''Elaeocarpus williamsianus'' is a tree that typically grows to a height of with a trunk diameter of up to , with creamy-brown bark but without

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. Its young branchlets are densely covered with woolly, rust-coloured hairs. The leaves are lance-shaped to egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide on a petiole long. The leaves sometimes have eight to ten pairs of inconspicuous teeth on the edges. The flowers are pendent, borne in leaf axils in groups of eleven to sixteen on a

rachis In biology, a rachis (from the grc, ῥάχις [], "backbone, spine") is a main axis or "shaft". In zoology and microbiology In vertebrates, ''rachis'' can refer to the series of articulated vertebrae, which encase the spinal cord. In this c ...

long, each flower on a

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 five oblong to narrow triangular green

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 and about wide. The five petals are greenish-white, oblong, long and wide with a fringe of twenty-two to twenty-six linear lobes at the tip. There are thirty to thirty-eight

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 and the

ovary The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body. ...

is covered with silvery hairs. Flowering occurs from November to December and the fruit is a more or less spherical blue

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'') ...

about in diameter, the stone with three longitudinal grooves.

Taxonomy

''Elaeocarpus williamsianus'' was first formally described in 1983 by Gordon Paul Guymer in the journal '' Telopea'' from specimens collected near Burringbar in 1980. 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 ...

(''williamsianus'') honours

John Beaumont Williams John Beaumont Williams (12 February 1932 – 31 July 2005) was an Australian botanist who spent most of his working life, from 1957 until 1992 as a lecturer in taxonomy, anatomy and ecology at the University of New England (Australia), Universi ...

of the University of New England.

Distribution and habitat

Hairy quandong is restricted to nine sites on the Burringbar Range in the far north-east of New South Wales, where it grows in warm temperate rainforest, including in disturbed areas where it has regrown from root suckers.

Conservation status

This quandong is very rare and at least six of the nine populations are clones and produce few seeds. The species is listed as "endangered" under the Australian Government ''

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cultu ...

'' and the New South Wales Government '' Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016''. A recovery plan has been prepared. The main threats to the species include habitat clearing and fragmentation, weed invasion, and the species limited genetic diversity.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5353104 williamsianus Oxalidales of Australia Trees of Australia Endangered flora of Australia Flora of New South Wales Plants described in 1983