''Sloanea australis'', commonly known as the maiden's blush, is a rainforest tree of eastern

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 ...

. The range of natural distribution is from near

Batemans Bay Batemans Bay is a town on the South Coast region of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Batemans Bay is administered by the Eurobodalla Shire council. The town is situated on the shores of an estuary formed where the Clyde River meets the ...

(35° S) in southern

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 ...

Cape Tribulation Cape Tribulation is a headland and coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas in northern Queensland, Australia. In the , Cape Tribulation had a population of 118 people. Geography The locality is north of Cairns. It is within the Daintree Na ...

(16° S) in tropical

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 of ''Sloanea australis'' is various types of rainforest; such as

littoral The littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely inundated), to coastal areas ...

, warm temperate, montane rainforest, sub tropical, and tropical rainforests. Often growing in particularly moist areas, such as next to streams. The common name refers to the "blushing" pink colour of the heartwood, resembling a ''maiden's blush''. This common name is also suited to the colour of the new leaves. Other common names include the blush alder, blush carrabeen, blush carrobean and cudgerie. ''Sloanea australis'' has bright pink new leaves which make identification easy. The irregular, crooked leaning trunk is also characteristic.

Description

A medium to large tree, up to tall with a stem diameter of with grey-brown bark. The trunk is buttressed, crooked, flanged and irregular with smaller branchlets coming from the main trunk.

Alexander Floyd Alexander Geoffrey Floyd (1 April 1926 – 12 December 2022) was an Australian botanist with an expert knowledge of rainforest plants, particularly the rainforest trees of New South Wales. He has worked with the New South Wales Forestry Commiss ...

mentions a tall individual at

Border Ranges National Park The Border Ranges National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. A small portion of the national park is also located in South East Queensland. The park is situated approxi ...

.Floyd, A.G., Rainforest Trees of Mainland South-eastern Australia, Inkata Press 2008, page 133 Leaves alternate with wavy margins, toothed and

obovate 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 ...

, long, some with a shortly blunted tip. Leaf stalks are long, with a bend at the junction of the leaf blade. Venation is prominent on both sides of the leaf. Cream flowers form from October to November, in singles or on short

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

s. A woody capsule matures from February to June, long. Inside is a fleshy orange

aril An aril (pronounced ), also called an arillus, is a specialized outgrowth from a seed that partly or completely covers the seed. An arillode or false aril is sometimes distinguished: whereas an aril grows from the attachment point of the see ...

, surrounding the three to five glossy black seeds. Fruit is eaten by a variety of rainforest birds including the

paradise riflebird The paradise riflebird (''Ptiloris paradisea'') is a passerine bird of the family Paradisaeidae. It is one of four riflebird species in the genus ''Ptiloris''. It is found in subtropical, temperate rainforests in eastern Australia. The species is ...

. Germination from fresh seeds is not particularly difficult, woody branches and cuttings also strike well.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7541100 australis Oxalidales of Australia Trees of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller Taxa named by George Bentham