''Halfordia'' is a genus of plants in the family

Rutaceae The Rutaceae is a family, commonly known as the rueRUTACEAE
in BoDD – Botanical Derm ...

containing the single species ''Halfordia kendack'' commonly known as kerosenewood, southern ghittoe or saffronheart, is a rainforest plant that is

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

to eastern Australia, New Guinea and New Caledonia. It is a shrub or tree with elliptical to egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base,

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 of white, greenish white or yellowish flowers and purple to bluish black, spherical to oval fruit.

Description

''Halfordia kendack'' is a shrub or tree that typically grows to a height of , the trunk with a diameter of and often flanged at the base. It has grey or pale yellowish-brown bark with corky pustules and is often rough and wrinkled. The smaller branches are smooth, green and about thick. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, elliptical to egg-shaped or lance-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide and more or less

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

or on a petiole up to long. The leaf tapers to the base and has a rounded or tapered tip and new leaves have a noticeable aromatic scent resembling

eau de cologne Eau de Cologne (; German: ''Kölnisch Wasser'' ; meaning "Water from Cologne"), or simply cologne, is a perfume originating from Cologne, Germany. Originally mixed by Johann Maria Farina (Giovanni Maria Farina) in 1709, it has since come to be a ge ...

. There are many conspicuous, closely spaced oil dots. The flowers are arranged in panicles long, each flower about in diameter 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

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 are long and the

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s white, greenish white or yellowish and long with short, soft hairs pressed against the back. Flowering occurs from January to May and the fruit is a purple to bluish black, spherical to 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 that is present in most months.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Halfordia'' was first formally described in 1865 by

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 ...

in '' Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae'' and the first species he described was ''Halfordia drupifera'', now considered a

nomen illegitimum ''Nomen illegitimum'' (Latin for illegitimate name) is a technical term, used mainly in botany. It is usually abbreviated as ''nom. illeg.'' Although the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants uses Latin terms for other ki ...

. In 1860,

Xavier Montrouzier Reverendus Pater Jean Xavier Hyacinthe Montrouzier (3 December 1820 – 6 May 1897) was a French Marist priest, explorer, botanist, zoologist and entomologist. Abbé Montrouzier studied the flora and fauna of Melanesia especially New Caledoni ...

described ''Eriostemon kendack'' in ''Mémoires de l'Académie Royale des Sciences, Belles-Lettres et Arts de Lyon'', and in 1911,

André Guillaumin André Louis Joseph Edmond Armand Guillaumin (21 June 1885 in Arrou – 29 May 1974 in Athis-Mons) was a French Botany, botanist. He obtained his License#Academy, license in biology in 1906 and began work in the ''Muséum national d'histoire ...

changed the name to ''Halfordia kendack'' in ''Notulae Systematicae''. ''Halfordia'' is named after George Britton Halford and "kendack" is an indigenous name for this tree in New Caledonia.

Distribution and habitat

Kerosenewood grows in monsoon woodland and rainforest in coastal and inland areas from sea level to an altitude of . It is found in New Caledonia, New Guinea and eastern Australia. In Australia it occurs from the

Torres Strait Islands The Torres Strait Islands are a group of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait, a waterway separating far northern continental Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea. They span an area of , but their total land ...

to the

Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...

in Queensland, south to Iluka in New South Wales, including on the Mcpherson and

Tweed Range The Tweed Range is a mountain range which is the western extension of the Tweed Volcano caldera rim, part of the Scenic Rim of the Great Dividing Range, located in northern New South Wales, near the southeastern border of Queensland, in Austr ...

Ecology

The hard seed is surrounded by pulp, which is eaten by a variety of birds, such as the

green catbird The green catbird (''Ailuroedus crassirostris'') is a species of bowerbird found in subtropical forests along the east coast of Australia, from southeastern Queensland to southern New South Wales. It is named after its distinctive call which soun ...

topknot pigeon The topknot pigeon (''Lopholaimus antarcticus'') is a pigeon native to eastern Australia. Taxonomy English naturalist George Shaw described the topknot pigeon as ''Columba antarctica'' in 1793. The topknot pigeon is sister taxon to a lineage th ...

and

wompoo fruit dove The wompoo fruit dove (''Ptilinopus magnificus''), also known as wompoo pigeon, is one of the larger fruit doves native to New Guinea and eastern Australia. Taxonomy and systematics Subspecies There are generally 7-8 recognised subspecies, ...

. Germination from seeds can be difficult, often erratic.

Uses

Before the development of

fibreglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

and

carbon fibre Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...

, the timber of this species was used in the manufacture of

fishing rod A fishing rod is a long, thin rod used by angling, anglers to fishing, catch fish by manipulating a fishing line, line ending in a fish hook, hook (formerly known as an ''angle'', hence the term "angling"). At its most basic form, a fishing ...

s. The oily, flexible timber is hard, weighing 1100 kg per cubic metre. This plant is gaining popularity in horticulture. The wood is highly flammable, and chips of wood may be used to start a fire, even when wet, hence one of the common names, "kerosene wood".

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q1312092, from2=Q18083276 kendack Zanthoxyloideae genera Trees of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Flora of New Caledonia Monotypic Rutaceae genera