Melodorum leichhardtii
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Melodorum leichhardtii |
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| ( F.Muell. ) Benth. |
Melodorum leichhardtii is a species of plant in the Annonaceae family from northern to northeastern and eastern Australia to Papua New Guinea .
description
Melodorum leichhardtii grows as a climbing , evergreen shrub . The trunks can be up to 9 centimeters thick and wind up to the tops of other trees.
The simple, short-stalked, leathery and almost bare leaves are alternate. They are dark green on top, glossy and lighter on the underside, ovate to ovate lanceolate or oblong to obscure ovate lanceolate, with entire margins and rounded and pointed to pointed, more rarely rounded or indented. They are up to 10-15 centimeters long and up to 4-6 centimeters wide.
The orange-yellow, stalked and hermaphrodite flowers with a double flower envelope usually appear singly and at the ends or opposite the leaves . There are 3 small, tightly overgrown and fine-haired sepals. There are 6 fleshy, plump, flabby and egg-shaped, externally keeled, pointed, fine-haired, about 1.5-2 centimeters long petals in two circles, the inner ones are slightly smaller. There are many (150) short, approximated stamens that stand together in a ring, pillow-like shape and many (20) upper, slightly longer pistils in the middle.
Small, orange and almost bare, often short-pointed fruits, berries are formed that are grouped together as a collective fruit . The stalked partial fruits are usually single, roundish, single-seeded and about 1–1.3 centimeters in size or also appear fused in pairs and, more rarely, elongated or pearl-like with several, up to four seeds.
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 16.
use
The sour fruits with a pleasant taste are edible.
literature
- K. Kubitzki , JG Rohwer , V. Bittrich: The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants. Vol. II: Flowering Plants Dicotyledons , Springer, 1993, ISBN 978-3-642-08141-5 (Reprint), pp. 109 f, 119 f.
- Flora of Australia. Volume 2: Winteraceae to Platanaceae , CSIRO, 2007, ISBN 978-0-643-05967-2 , pp. 24-27, online (PDF; 18.4 MB).
- G. Bentham, F. Mueller: Flora australiensis. Vol. 1, Reeve, 1863, p. 52, archive.org .
Web links
- Melodorum leichhardtii at Useful Tropical Plants.
- Melodorum leichhardtii at Flora of the World (pictures).