''Dendrocnide peltata'', commonly known simply as the stinging tree or ''jelaton'', is a large tree in the nettle

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Urticaceae The Urticaceae are a family, the nettle family, of flowering plants. The family name comes from the genus ''Urtica''. The Urticaceae include a number of well-known and useful plants, including nettles in the genus ''Urtica'', ramie (''Boehmeri ...

. With the other species of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

Dendrocnide ''Dendrocnide'' is a genus of approximately 40 species of plants in the nettle family ''Urticaceae''. They have a wide distribution across North East India, Southeast Asia, Australia and the Pacific Islands. In Australia they are commonly known a ...

'', it is known for the stinging hairs which cover the whole plant and cause severe pain when touched. The Latin specific epithet ''peltata'' means "shield shaped", referring to the shape of the leaves.

Description

''Dendrocnide peltata'' is a dioecious rainforest tree. Although often encountered as a small, subcanopy tree, it may grow to be a large

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an ...

tree up to 30 m high. The trunk grows to a diameter of 650 mm, and is usually crooked and lacking buttresses, while the bark is green or grey in colour, and rough, scaly or flaky in texture. The large leaves, which are broadly ovate, usually peltate, rounded at the base,

crenate A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...

, acute to acuminate, dark green above and pale green beneath, are clustered at the ends of the branches. The small

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s grow as axillary

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

s. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

s are about 20 mm long, green or brown, with the seeds about 2 mm in diameter.Flora of Australia Online.Conn & Damas.

Distribution and habitat

The two botanic varieties of the tree are: * ''Dendrocnide peltata'' (Blume) Miq. var. ''peltata'' is native to

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...

, Bali,

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

and

Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. It is located in the Indian Ocean, around south of Java and Sumatra and around north-west of the ...

. * ''Dendrocnide peltata'' var. ''murrayana'' (Rendle) Chew 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 else ...

to Christmas Island.

References

Notes

Sources

* * peltata Rosales of Australia Flora of Christmas Island Trees of Java Flora of Bali Trees of New Guinea Taxa named by Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel Plants described in 1851 Dioecious plants {{Urticaceae-stub