A first acquintance with this rainforest tree does not guarantee subsequent recognition, but there is some things about Alangium that in combination make this a most distinctive plant. These characters include the neat tertiary vein network of the leaves running almost parallel to each other, alternately arranged leaves with the oblique bases, and the domatia at the midrib-lateral vein junctions. The flowers are on their own quite distinctive, but on the basis of flowers alone one would not have guessed that Alangium is related to a very famous group of temperate plants called the Dogwoods (Cornus). The association is a molecular one of course. In Far North Queensland, two subspecies occur.
– subsp. polyosmoides has smooth leaves
– subsp. villosum has hairy leaves
This plant has been referred to variously as Muskwood, Muskheart, Canary Muskheart, Black Muskheart and Brown Muskheart.
Leaf Whispering in the Tropics 