''Sarcomelicope simplicifolia'', commonly known as bauerella, hard aspen or yellow-wood, is a species of flowering plant in the family

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

and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to eastern Australia including Lord Howe and

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together with ...

s. It is a shrub or small tree with elliptic to egg-shaped leaves arranged in opposite pairs, male or female flowers arranged in small groups in leaf axils and fruit an oval to spherical

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'') ...

Description

''Sarcomelicope simplicifolia'' is a shrub or small tree that typically grows to a height of . It has a cylindrical trunk with corky and fissured bark. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, rarely in

whorls A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs). Whorls in nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral d ...

of three, shiny on the upper surface, paler below, and are elliptic to egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide on a petiole long. The flowers are arranged in leaf axils in small groups long, the flowers functionally male or female. The male flowers are long, with eight

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 alternating in length and the female flowers are long. Flowering mainly occurs from February to August and the fruit is a

long containing seeds long.

Taxonomy

Bauerella was first formally described in 1833 by

Stephan Endlicher Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher also known as Endlicher István László (24 June 1804, Bratislava (Pozsony) – 28 March 1849, Vienna) was an Austrian botanist, numismatist and Sinologist. He was a director of the Botanical Garden of Vienna. Bio ...

in his book ''Prodromus Florae Norfolkicae'' and was given the name ''Vepris simplicifolia'' from specimens collected on Norfolk Island. In 1982

Thomas Gordon Hartley Thomas Gordon Hartley (9 January 1931 in Beaumont, Texas – 8 March 2016 in Canberra, Australia) was an American botanist. Biography In 1955 Hartley graduated in botany with the academic degree Bachelor of Science at the University of Wisconsin-E ...

changed the name to ''Sarcomelicope simplicifolia'' and described the subspecies ''simplicifolia'' in the ''Australian Journal of Botany''. The name of the subspecies is accepted by 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 ...

Distribution and habitat

''Sarcomelicope simplicifolia'' subsp. ''simplicifolia'' grows in, and on the margins of warmer rainforest from near Mount Carbine area in tropical north Queensland to

Mount Dromedary Gulaga, dual-named as Mount Dromedary and also referred to as Mount Gulaga, is mountain located in the south coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It rises above the village of Central Tilba and is within the Gulaga National Park. At its ...

in south-eastern New South Wales. It is also found on Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island. Subspecies ''neoscotia'' occurs in New Caledonia and Vanuatu.

Ecology

The fruit is eaten by a variety of birds, including

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 ...

and white headed pigeon.

Use in horticulture

Regeneration from seed is not easily achieved. Seeds should be removed from the flesh, then soaked for a week or two. After six months, around half of these may send out roots and shoots.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7423601 simplicifolia Trees of Australia Sapindales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Flora of Lord Howe Island Flora of Norfolk Island Plants described in 1833 Taxa named by Stephan Endlicher