''Endiandra introrsa'' is a rare

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 ...

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 ...

. Listed with a Rare or Threatened Australian Plants ( ROTAP) rating of 3RCa. Its habitat is warm temperate rainforest on the poorer rainforest soils, mostly over 300 metres in altitude, and its range of natural distribution is from near Dorrigo to various sites in the state of Queensland. Common names include red plum, Dorrigo plum and red walnut, although the tree is neither a plum nor walnut, but a laurel. The specific epithet "introrsa" refers to the openings of the flower

anthers 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 filam ...

being on the ''inner side''.

Description

''Endiandra introrsa'' is a tree reaching 40 metres tall with a trunk diameter of 90 cm. The base of the tree may be slightly buttressed and its trunk is cylindrical with some irregularities, bumps and depressions in the reddish brown bark. Its small branches are covered in downy hairs. Its leaves are simple, alternate or rarely opposite on the stem,

ovate Ovate may refer to: *Ovate (egg-shaped) leaves, tepals, or other botanical parts *Ovate, a type of prehistoric stone hand axe *Ovates, one of three ranks of membership in the Welsh Gorsedd *Vates In modern English, the nouns vates () and ovat ...

- lanceolate in shape, 5 to 9 cm long and 1.5 to 3.5 cm wide, and glossy green above but waxy greyish below with a long blunt leaf tip. The leaf stem is between 10 and 12 mm long, and yellow leaf veins are evident above and below the leaf.

Flowers, fruit and regeneration

Small yellowish green flowers form between October and November. The

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 are shorter than the leaves, which appear from 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. The fruit matures in January to March, being a large 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'') ...

, 3 to 6 cm in diameter and fairly round in shape, though often being broader than deep. The colour is red, maturing to near black. It resembles a plum, hence the tree's common name. Inside is a single large seed. Removal of the flesh should be undertaken before planting the seed. Germination is slow, but fairly reliable; it commences after around five or six months, and is complete a few months later.

Chemistry

Endiandric acid C Endiandric acid C, isolated from the tree '' Endiandra introrsa'', is a well characterized chemical compound. Endiadric acid C is reported to have better antibiotic activity than ampicillin. This genus of trees is in the family Lauraceae. These t ...

, isolated from the ''Endiandra introrsa'' tree, is reported to have better antibiotic activity than ampicillin.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5376112 Trees of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Laurales of Australia introrsa