''Endiandra muelleri'' is a

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 of 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 ...

. Its habitat is in warm temperate rainforests on poorer soils. Distributed from the

Allyn River Allyn River, a perennial stream of the Hunter River catchment, is located in the Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. Course Allyn River rises on Allyn Range, on the slopes of the Gondwana Rainforests Barrington Tops, west of Careys Pe ...

in the Barrington Tops region in the south to

Kroombit Tops Kroombit Tops is a national park in Central Queensland, Australia. It is between Monto and Calliope. It is two parts. The largest part is within the localities of Tablelands, Valentine Plains, Cania and Boyne Valley, while the smaller part ...

to the north in central Queensland. Common names include Mueller's walnut or green-leaved rose walnut. The tree is not a walnut, being a laurel. It is named after the prolific colonial botanist,

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

Subspecies

There are two types of ''Endiandra muelleri'', this plant ''Endiandra muelleri muelleri'' and the endangered ''Endiandra muelleri bracteata''. For the differences in the sub-species, see '' Endiandra muelleri bracteata''.

Description

''Endiandra muelleri'' subsp. ''muelleri'' is a tree reaching 30 metres tall with a trunk diameter of 75 cm. The base of the tree may be buttressed and flanged. The brown bark is irregular, with craters, depressions, and loose plates of bark. Leaf bearing twigs are green coloured with fine flat straight hairs. New shoots feature bright pink or red leaves and fawn coloured hairs. Leaves are 6 to 12 cm long, 3 to 5 cm wide. Green, shiny and smooth on both surfaces, paler beneath. Leaves broad lanceolate to elliptic in shape with a leaf stem from 3 to 6 mm long. Occasionally one to four hairy tufts or bumps are seen on the underside of the leaf, next to the joining of leaf veins and mid-vein on ''Endiandra muelleri subsp. muelleri''.

Flowers, fruit and regeneration

Greenish pink flowers form on

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 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 in the months of November to January. With ''Endiandra muelleri subsp. muelleri'', the perianth lobes are hairy on the outside. The fruit is blackish/dark 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'') ...

, 15 to 25 mm in length. Maturing from March to April. The fruit is eaten by a variety of birds, including the

rose-crowned fruit dove The rose-crowned fruit dove (''Ptilinopus regina''), also known as pink-capped fruit dove or Swainson's fruit dove, is a medium-sized, up to 22 cm long, green fruit dove with a grey head and breast, an orange belly, whitish throat, yellow-or ...

, regent bowerbird,

superb fruit-dove The superb fruit dove (''Ptilinopus superbus''), also known as the purple-crowned fruit dove (leading to easy confusion with the purple-capped fruit dove), is a medium-sized (22–24 cm long), colourful fruit-dove in the family Columbidae. ...

, and wompoo fruit-dove. It is advisable to remove the flesh from the seed before sowing. Germination occurs after around two months.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5376113 Trees of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Laurales of Australia muelleri