''Owenia'' is a genus of plants, mainly

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s in the family

Meliaceae Meliaceae, the mahogany family, is a flowering plant family of mostly trees and shrubs (and a few herbaceous plants, mangroves) in the order Sapindales. They are characterised by alternate, usually pinnate leaves without stipules, and by syncarp ...

. They are

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...

, with male and female flowers on separate plants. They are endemic to

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 ...

and fairly widespread across the continent. There are five species in the genus, living in conditions ranging from wet

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 ...

to the verges of the

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

. One species, ''

Owenia cepiodora ''Owenia cepiodora'' is a medium to large Australian tree in the family Meliaceae. It occurs in the rainforests of north eastern New South Wales and adjacent areas in Queensland. The habitat is mostly the drier Hoop Pine rainforests along the ...

'', is rare, and is renowned for having freshly cut bark that smells of

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion ...

s. Its common name is onion cedar or bog onion. The species recognised at the

Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Syst ...

include * ''

Owenia acidula ''Owenia acidula'', commonly known as emu apple, is small or medium-sized tree of outback woodlands native to Australia. It may grow to ten metres tall. The pinnate leaves are bright green and shiny, with leaflets 2–5 cm long. Broken tw ...

'' * ''

Owenia reliqua ''Owenia'' is the generic name of three groups of organisms. It can refer to: * ''Owenia'' (plant), a genus of plants in the family Meliaceae * ''Owenia'' (annelid) Delle Chiaje 1841, a genus of worms in the family Oweniidae * ''Owenia'' (bird) ...

'' * ''

Owenia reticulata ''Owenia'' is the generic name of three groups of organisms. It can refer to: * ''Owenia'' (plant), a genus of plants in the family Meliaceae * ''Owenia'' (annelid) Delle Chiaje 1841, a genus of worms in the family Oweniidae * ''Owenia'' (bird) ...

'' * '' Owenia vernicosa''

References

External links

Photograph of a Western Australian species
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q16746726 Meliaceae Meliaceae genera Sapindales of Australia Dioecious plants