Kurrajong
| Kurrajong | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Wikstroemia australis | ||||||||||||
| Final |
The Kurrajong ( Wikstroemia australis ) is a shrub or small tree from the genus Wikstroemia within the family of the daphne family (Thymelaeaceae). It is endemic to and critically endangered on the Norfolk Island .
description
The Kurrajong reaches a height of 4 m or more. Its black rind is very hard and fibrous. The opposite leaves are bare. The leaf stalks are 2 to 5 mm long. The elliptical-lanceolate leaf blade becomes 3 to 7 (rarely from 1.5 to 10) cm long and 2 to 3 (rarely from 1 to 4) cm wide. At the base it is narrowed to rounded, at the tip rounded to pointed. The leaves are colorless and the veins are clearly reticulated. The terminal inflorescence is arranged in clusters of three to ten flowers. The hairless calyx is 7 to 9 mm long. The egg-shaped, yellowish-green calyx lobes are 3 to 4 mm long. The stamen whorl is located in the upper half of the calyx. The stamens are 0.5 mm long, the yellow anthers are about 1 mm long. The reddish egg-shaped-pear-shaped fruits are 4 mm long.
distribution and habitat
Today the Kurrajong only occurs on the slopes of Mount Bates and Mount Pitt . It used to be widespread in lower elevations outside of the Norfolk Island National Park. The habitat are forests on the edges and tops of valleys. The Kurrajong is most often seen in gaps in the forest or along paths and roads.
status
The Australian government classifies the Kurrajong in the "critically endangered" category. In 2003 there were only 155 adult specimens left in small, widely spaced subpopulations, none of which have more than 50 individuals. A survey in 1987 also showed that there are very few juvenile plants with a height of less than 2 m. Reasons for the rarity of the Kurrajong are probably bacterial diseases, the competition with the strawberry guava ( Psidium cattleianum ), destruction by cyclones and seed looting by rats.
Taxonomy
The Kurrajong was discovered by Ferdinand Bauer on Norfolk Island between 1804 and 1805 . It was first described in 1833 by Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher in Prodromus Florae Norfolkicae , p. 47. The taxon is a type of the genus Wikstroemia . The taxon Wikstroemia cunninghamii described by Carl Meissner in Alphonse Pyrame de Candolles work Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis in 1857 is a synonym .
literature
- Director of National Parks 2010: Norfolk Island Region Threatened Species Recovery Plan . Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Canberra, ISBN 978-0-646-53763-4 , p. 120.