''Myoporum platycarpum'', known by several common names including sugarwood, false sandalwood and ngural is a plant in the figwort

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Scrophulariaceae The Scrophulariaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the figwort family. The plants are annual and perennial herbs, as well as shrubs. Flowers have bilateral (zygomorphic) or rarely radial (actinomorphic) symmetry. The Scr ...

. It is rounded with bright green foliage as a young shrub and roughly fissured, dark grey bark when mature. Sugarwood is endemic to the southern half of continental Australia.

Description

Sugarwood is a rounded shrub or small tree growing to a height of with foliage and branches that are

glabrous Glabrousness (from the Latin '' glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...

but often covered with small raised, wart-like

tubercles In anatomy, a tubercle (literally 'small tuber', Latin for 'lump') is any round nodule, small eminence, or warty outgrowth found on external or internal organs of a plant or an animal. In plants A tubercle is generally a wart-like projection ...

. The bark on mature specimens is rough, dark grey, flaky bark. Its leaves are arranged alternately and are usually long, wide, linear to elliptic in shape and usually have small teeth or serrations in the outer half. The leaves are often curved or have a hook on the end and both surfaces are deep green in colour. The flowers are borne in groups of about 5 to 8 (sometimes more or fewer) on a stalk long. The flowers have five triangular

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 and five

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, joined at their bases to form a tube. The petals are white or very pale pink to purple sometimes spotted orange or yellow. The tube is about long and the lobes are spreading, blunt and long. The inside of the tube and part of the lobes are hairy. There are 4

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 which extend beyond the petals. The main flowering season is from August to November and the fruits that follow are green and fleshy at first but dry when mature.

Taxonomy and naming

''Myoporum platycarpum'' was first formally described by botanist Robert Brown in ''

Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae ''Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen'' (Prodromus of the Flora of New Holland and Van Diemen's Land) is a flora of Australia written by botanist Robert Brown and published in 1810. Often referred to as ''Prodromus Flora Novae ...

'' in 1810. There are two subspecies: * ''Myoporum platycarpum'' R.Br. subsp. ''platycarpum'' has petal lobes that are shorter than the petal tube and as a mature tree has curved or bending branches; * ''Myoporum platycarpum'' subsp. ''perbellum'' Chinnock has petal lobes that are equal to or longer than the petal tube and as a mature tree has straight branches. 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 ...

''platycarpum'' is derived from the ancient Greek ''platys'' (πλατύς), broad, flat; ''karpos'' (καρπός), fruit.Backer, C.A. (1936). ''Verklarend woordenboek der wetenschappelijke namen van de in Nederland en Nederlandsch-Indië in het wild groeiende en in tuinen en parken gekweekte varens en hoogere planten'' (Edition Nicoline van der Sijs). The epithet ''perbellum'' is from the "Latin, ''perbellum'' very beautiful".

Distribution and habitat

Both subspecies of ''M. platycarpum'' occur in inland areas of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, north-western

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and the southern half of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. Only subspecies ''platycarpum'' occurs in south-eastern

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

and in the far south east of

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. It often grows in mallee or Belah woodland.

Uses

Horticulture

Sugarwood is a hardy and attractive plant useful for shade, shelter or as a screening plant in drier climates.

Timber

Sugarwood is hard and dense, yellow and streaked brown with small black features. It smells of sugar when it is worked.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17745749 platycarpum Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Flora of South Australia Flora of Victoria (Australia) Lamiales of Australia Plants described in 1810 Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)