''Owenia cepiodora'' is a medium to large

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 ...

n tree 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 ...

. It occurs in the

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 ...

s of north eastern

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 ...

and adjacent areas in

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_ ...

. The habitat is mostly the drier

Hoop Pine ''Araucaria cunninghamii'' is a species of '' Araucaria'' known as hoop pine. Other less commonly used names include colonial pine, Queensland pine, Dorrigo pine, Moreton Bay pine and Richmond River pine. The scientific name honours the botanist ...

rainforests along the state border. Only small regrowth trees remain, as it was heavily logged in earlier times. Its status is now considered vulnerable with a

ROTAP Rare or Threatened Australian Plants, usually abbreviated to ROTAP, is a list of rare or threatened Australian plant taxa. Developed and maintained by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the most recent edition ...

rating of 2VCi. Common names include onion cedar, onionwood and bog onion. The timber resembles the valuable

Australian Red Cedar ''Toona ciliata'' is a forest tree in the mahogany family which grows throughout southern Asia from Afghanistan to Papua New Guinea and Australia. Names It is commonly known as the red cedar (a name shared by other trees), toon or toona (also a ...

. Logs were soaked to remove the characteristic onion scent and sold as Red Cedar. The species name refers to the onion scent. It is found as far south as the

Richmond River The Richmond River is a river situated in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. Course and features The river rises at the northern end of the Richmond Range, near its junction with the McPherson Range, on the Queensla ...

and as far north as

Canungra Canungra is a rural town and locality in the Scenic Rim Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Canungra had a population of 1,229 people. Geography Located in South East Queensland, Canungra is situated in the Gold Coast hint ...

, in the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

hinterland.

Description

A tree up to 30 metres tall with a stem diameter of 75 cm. The crown of the tree resembles the dark glossy green Black Bean tree. A cylindrical trunk with brown bark with vertical cracks and lines. Small branches are marked with leaf scars; thick smooth and pale brown. Compound leaves are between 30 and 60 cm long with 17 to 25 leaflets, sub opposite on the main leaf stem. Notably, there is no terminal leaflet. Leaflets 7 to 14 cm long, and 1.5 to 3.5 cm wide, broad

lanceolate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

in shape. Glossy green above, paler and more dull beneath. The midrib is raised above and below on the leaflet. Older foliage without a distinct odour, however, new leaves have a

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus ''Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Allium fistulosum, Welsh onion and Allium chinense, Chinese onion. It is native to South A ...

scent. The main leaf stalk is 20 to 30 cm long, and the leaflet stalks are 2 to 5 mm long.

Flowers, fruit & regeneration

White flowers form on

panicles 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 o ...

in the months of November to December. Petals five in number per flower, around 4 mm long. The fruit is round red

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'') ...

, with white pulp. 1.5 to 2 cm in diameter with two, three or four cells, each with usually two seeds. Fruit matures from January to March. Regeneration is unreliable, however it occurs around November to January.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q5461127 Flora of New South Wales Meliaceae Sapindales of Australia Flora of Queensland Trees of Australia Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller