''Graptophyllum ilicifolium'', otherwise known as the Mount Blackwood holly, is a large

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 ...

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

which grows in

granitic A granitoid is a generic term for a diverse category of coarse-grained igneous rocks that consist predominantly of quartz, plagioclase, and alkali feldspar. Granitoids range from plagioclase-rich tonalites to alkali-rich syenites and from quart ...

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...

s. It has shiny, dark green leaves which resemble those of the unrelated

holly ''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...

, and grows best in moist, semi-shaded, well-drained, well-mulched soils. The shrub grows to 5 metres in height and has leaves 7.5 to 10 centimetres long which are shiny, noticeably veined, dark green in colour and have a spinous margin. The flowers are red and in short clusters, each about 2 to 2.5 centimetres in length.

History

The species was originally collected from Mount Blackwood, north of

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, in the 1800s and was part of a collection by Nernst which is now at the Melbourne Herbarium. In 1984, plants described in this collection were found in the Mount Blackwood and Mount Jukes areas. These were collected and identified to be ''Graptophyllum ilicifolium'' by the Queensland Herbarium. After identification, the Mount Blackwood holly was propagated and trialled by

Society for Growing Australian Plants The Australian Native Plants Society (Australia) (ANPSA) is a federation of seven state-based member organisations for people interested in Australia's native flora, both in aspects of conservation and in cultivation. A national conference is h ...

Mackay Branch members. It was offered to the general public in 1991 at the Australian Plant Spectacular, then adopted as the floral emblem of the Mackay Branch of the Society for Growing Australian Plants in 1992 and the Mackay Regional Botanic Gardens in 2003.

References

Mackay Regional Botanical Gardens
accessed September 21, 2010. {{Taxonbar, from=Q15326163 ilicifolium Flora of Queensland Lamiales of Australia Vulnerable flora of Australia Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller pt:Graptophyllum