''Zanthoxylum pinnatum'', commonly known as yellow wood, is a species of flowering plant of the family

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

native to Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands. It is a tree with

pinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...

leaves, white male and female flowers arranged in groups in leaf axils, and spherical, purple follicles containing a single black seed.

Description

''Zanthoxylum pinnatum'' is a tree that typically grows to a height of . Its leaves are pinnate, usually with four to nine oblong to egg-shaped, slightly curved leaflets, mostly long and wide. The flowers are arranged in small to large groups in leaf axils with separate male and female flowers, the four

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coine ...

s egg-shaped and long, the four or five petals white, lance-shaped and long. Flowering occurs from February to March and the fruit is a spherical, purple follicle about long containing a single black seed.

Taxonomy

Yellow wood was first formally described in 1775 by

Johann Reinhold Forster Johann Reinhold Forster (22 October 1729 – 9 December 1798) was a German Reformed (Calvinist) pastor and naturalist of partially Scottish descent who made contributions to the early ornithology of Europe and North America. He is best known ...

and

Georg Forster Johann George Adam Forster, also known as Georg Forster (, 27 November 1754 – 10 January 1794), was a German naturalist, ethnologist, travel writer, journalist and revolutionary. At an early age, he accompanied his father, Johann Reinhold ...

who gave it the name ''Blackburnia pinnata'' in their book '' Characteres Generum Plantarum''. In 1917,

Walter Oliver Walter Reginald Brook Oliver (7 September 1883 – 16 May 1957) was a New Zealand naturalist, ornithologist, malacologist, and museum curator. Biography Born in Launceston, Tasmania, Oliver emigrated with his family to New Zealand in 1896, set ...

changed the name to ''Zanthoxylum pinnatum'' in ''

Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute The ''Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand'' was a scientific journal and magazine published by the Royal Society of New Zealand. Before 1933 the society was called the New Zealand Institute, and the journal's name was ...

''.

Distribution and habitat

''Zanthoxylum pinnatum'' grows in forest on Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands but is not common on either island.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q18081174 pinnatum Plants described in 1775 Taxa named by Johann Reinhold Forster Taxa named by Georg Forster Flora of Lord Howe Island Flora of Norfolk Island