''Trema tomentosa'' var. ''viridis'' is a forest plant. In Australia it occurs from

Twofold Bay Twofold Bay is an open oceanic embayment that is located in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The bay was named by George Bass, for its shape of two bights. The northern bight is called Calle Calle Bay; while the southern ...

(37° S) in

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 ...

to far northern

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_ ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

and West Papua (

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

). It had been recorded near

Mallacoota Mallacoota is a small town in the East Gippsland region in the state of Victoria, Australia. At the 2016 census, Mallacoota had a population of 1,063. At holiday times, particularly Easter and Christmas, the population increases by about 8,000 ...

, but is now presumed extinct in the state of

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 ...

.Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Victoria (June 1996
Croajingalong National Park Management Plan
(PDF) . p. 44 quotation: :"Trema tomentosa　　Peach-leaf Poison-bus　　x　　WTR" :"Source: FIS (1996), Beauglehole (1981)" :"x　Presumed extinct in Victoria."　"WTR　Warm Temperate Rainforest" Common names include poison peach, native peach and peach-leaved poison bush. The poison peach is well regarded by rainforest regenerators for quick growth, shelter and shade and as a nursery species, and as a bird attracting plant. The habitat is rainforest regrowth, in disturbed open areas of rainforest, by forest roads and in open forest country.

Description

A shrub or small tree reaching a height of 8 metres and a stem diameter of 15 cm. The bark is smooth and grey, dotted with small

lenticel A lenticel is a porous tissue consisting of cells with large intercellular spaces in the periderm of the secondarily thickened organs and the bark of woody stems and roots of dicotyledonous flowering plants. It functions as a pore, providing a ...

s, arranged in vertical and horizontal patterns. The grey or fawn coloured branchlets also feature

s. Leaves alternate with a finely toothed edge. 4 to 9 cm long, ovate shaped with a long pointed tip. Leaf stalk 6 to 12 mm long. Leaf veins prominent on both sides, more evident underneath, particularly the lateral veins in threes. Leaves resemble the invasive weed ''

Lantana camara ''Lantana camara'' (common lantana) is a species of flowering plant within the verbena family (Verbenaceae), native to the American tropics. It is a very adaptable species, which can inhabit a wide variety of ecosystems; once it has been introduc ...

''. Small greenish flowers in short

cymes An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed on ...

, appear year round, though most often between December and March. The fruit is a tiny black

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'') ...

, 2 to 6 mm in diameter, with a single black seed. The fruit matures between February and August and is eaten by a variety of birds; including

brown cuckoo-dove The brown cuckoo-dove (''Macropygia phasianella'') is a dove in the genus ''Macropygia'' found in Australia from Weipa and Aurukun in the north to Bega, New South Wales, Bega in the south, and most inland at Atherton, Queensland, Atherton and Too ...

Australasian figbird The Australasian figbird (''Sphecotheres vieilloti''), also known as the green figbird (not to be confused with the Timor figbird), is a conspicuous, medium-sized passerine bird native to a wide range of wooded habitats in northern and eastern ...

Lewin's honeyeater Lewin's honeyeater (''Meliphaga lewinii'') is a bird that inhabits the ranges along the east coast of Australia. It has a semicircular ear-patch, pale yellow in colour. The name of this bird commemorates the Australian artist John Lewin. Descri ...

and

olive-backed oriole The olive-backed oriole (''Oriolus sagittatus''), or white-bellied oriole, is a very common medium-sized passerine bird native to northern and eastern Australia and south-central New Guinea. The most wide-ranging of the Australasian orioles, it ...

. Germination is not difficult from fresh seed or cuttings.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7838026 tomentosa var. viridis Rosales of Australia Trees of Australia Flora of Queensland Flora of New South Wales Flora of Norfolk Island Flora of New Guinea Flora of Western New Guinea