- Abrophyllum
image_width = 250px
image_caption = "Abrophyllum ornans" in Engler & Prantl
regnum =Plant ae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis =Magnoliopsida
ordo =Asterales
familia =Rousseaceae
genus = "Abrophyllum"
genus_authority =Hook. f. ex Benth.
species = "A. ornans"
binomial = "Abrophyllum ornans"
binomial_authority =Hook. f. "Abrophyllum" (Syn.: "Brachynema" F.Muell.) is a
monotypic genus offlowering plant s in the familySaxifragaceae "sensu lato" according to Engler, A. in Engler & Prantl and Schulze-Menz, G. K. in Melchior, 1964; placed in Subfamily Escallonioideae, Tribe Cuttsieae, it is closely related to "Cuttsia ". In theAPG II system "Abrophyllum" is placed in familyRousseaceae .The sole species is "Abrophyllum ornans".Its common name is Native Hydrangea, but it does not have great affinity with the true
Hydrangea .Classification
It is also classified in
Escalloniaceae (by Hutchinson 1967; Dahlgren; Thorne),Grossulariaceae (Cronquist 1988),Carpodetaceae (APG I 1998, Kubitzki 2007 [cite book|author = Gustafsson, M.H.G. (2007). Carpodetaceae. In Kubitzki, K. (Series Editor)|title = The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants| publisher = Vol.8:Kadereit, J. W. & Jeffrey, C. (Vol. Eds.). Springer-Verlag:Berlin| year = 2007| isbn = 3-540-31050-9] ),Rousseaceae (APG II 2003, Shipunov 2005, Thorne & Reveal 2007 [Thorne, R. F. & Reveal, J. L. 2007. An updated classification of the class Magnolipsida ("Angiospermae"). Bot. Rev. 73(2): 67-182.] and Heywood "et al." 2007 [cite book|author = Heywood, V. H., Brummitt, R. K., Culham, A. & Seberg, O. |title = Flowering Plant Families of the World|edition = | publisher = Firefly Books| year = 2007| location = Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada|isbn = 1-55407-206-9] ), or even in its own family Abrophyllaceae Nakai (Reveal andTakhtajan 1997).Distribution
It is native to
Australia (New South Wales andQueensland ).
Habitat: warm-temperate and subtropicalrainforest , especially along smaller watercourses or in gullies on poorer soils.Description
Shrub s or smalltree s to 8 m high; leaves simple, mostly 10-20 cm long, 3-8 cm wide, alternate, large,lanceolate , long-acuminate, subserrate; withoutstipule s, petiole 20-40 mm long.Flower s in terminal or axillarycyme s, yellowish. Calyx is short (c. 2 mm long.),tubular , lobes usually 5 or sometimes 6, deciduous.Petal s 4-5 mm long, usually 5 or sometimes 6, valvate, spreading, deciduous.Stamen s usually 5 or sometimes 6, inserted on the margin of the inconspicuous nectary disk;anther s broad oblong; filaments very short.Gynoecium of 5carpel s, patelliform. Ovary superior, 5-locular, with numerous axileovule s, stigma sessile, 5-lobed.Fruit a small (8-12 mm long, 5-7 mm wide), oblong, dark, mainly blackberry , crowned by the stigma, many-seeded;seed s small, subglobose, testa deeply latticed;embryo very small;endosperm fleshy and oily.Uses
Sometimes (locally) cultivated for its ornamental foliage and fruits.
References
* Bentham, G. & Hooker, J. D. (1862-1867). "Genera Plantarum".Volume I, p. 647. Reeve, London
* Engler, A. (1930). Saxifragaceae. In Engler, A. & Prantl, K.:"Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien", 18a, 2nd Edition, p. 213. (In German)
* Schulze-Menz, G.K. (1964). Rosales. In H. Melchior (Editor). A. Engler's: "Syllabus der Pflanzenfamilien", Volume II, 12th edition. Berlin: Gebrüder Borntraeger, pp. 193–242.
* Hutchinson, J.(1967):"The Genera of Flowering Plants", Volume II, p. 30.
*Gustafsson, M. H. G. & Bremer, K. (1997). The circumscription and systematic position of Carpodetaceae."Australian Systematic Botany" 10(6): 855-862. [It is proposed that the family Carpodetaceae be expanded to encompass "Abrophyllum" and "Cuttsia".]
*Takhtajan, A. (1997). "Diversity and classification of flowering plants", 370-373. ISBN 0-231-10098-1
* Hils, M. H. (1985). Comparative anatomy and systematics of twelve woody Australasian genera of the Saxifragaceae. Matthew Hils: Florida xvi, 239, [33] p. - illus. Icones, Anatomy and morphology. Thesis: University of Florida: PhD [including "Abrophyllum"]External links
* [http://www.brisrain.webcentral.com.au/old_site/database/Abr_ornans.htm Brisbane Rainforest Action & Information Network website, with description and photo]
* [http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Abrophyllum~ornans PlantNET]
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