Tristaniopsis collina

Hill Water Gum
Tristaniopsis collina at 1170 metres above sea level, Mount Royal, Australia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Myrtales
Family:	Myrtaceae
Genus:	Tristaniopsis
Species:	T. collina
Binomial name
Tristaniopsis collina Peter G.Wilson & J.T.Waterh.

Tristaniopsis collina, known as the Hill Water Gum or Hill Kanuka is a tree of eastern Australia. The usual habitat is rainforest away from streams on shallow soils at high altitude. However, it can occasionally be seen at low altitudes such as at Seal Rocks and Chatswood West. The Hill Water Gum is remarkably similar to the related Water Gum, however the latter species is strictly riparian.

The range of natural distribution of the Hill Water Gum is from near Mount Dromedary (36° S) in the south of New South Wales to the border with the state of Queensland at the McPherson Range (28° S).

Description

A small to medium tree, up to 35 metres in height and a stem diameter of 75 cm. The trunk is irregular, not cylindrical. The bark is grey or creamy, very thin with papery fibres that come off to touch. Branchlets are coloured purple and angular in cross section. The alternate simple leaves are around 5 to 8 cm long, with a long thin tip. Oil dots numerous and of varying sizes. The midrib is sunken on the top surface, but raised below.

Yellow flowers form in cymes from November to January. The fruit is a dry capsule maturing from April to July. The capsule is practically identical to the capsule of the Water Gum. The winged seeds are 5 mm long and 2 mm broad.

References

• Floyd, A.G., Rainforest Trees of Mainland South-eastern Australia, page 267 Inkata Press 1989, ISBN 0-909605-57-2