The long list of common names (Black Ash, Grey Bollywood, Hairy Leaved Bollygum, Native Mulberry, Pigeon-berry Tree, Velvet-leaf Bollywood, White Bollygum, White Bollywood) must be a reflection of how common this species is. There is hardly a roadside edge in … Continue reading →
Everyone has partaken of the healthful goodness of Avocado (Persea americana), or enjoyed the flavour that bay leaves confer to good traditional pastas. The more aromatically-inclined among us may perhaps enjoy the sense of tranquillity that the aroma of May … Continue reading →
This endemic species has beautiful golf ball sized fruits with a blazing scarlet colour and is very deserving of cultivation. The leaves are somewhat thick-textured and bears strong similarity to Endiandra leptodendron, but are hairy on the underside. The species … Continue reading →
This tree commonly known as the Brown Bollywood is a non-descript shiny-leaved species of Litsea. It superficially looks like Planchonella chartacea from the Sapote family, but has fruits that look like little acorns. It is probably more common than noticed.
Distinctive sympodial branching So far I have encountered this far north Queensland endemic tree only in the rainforest understorey and I cannot even be sure if it is B. oligandra or the Ivory Walnut. All my efforts to key this … Continue reading →
Another very non-descript Cryptocarya. Kris Kupsch on Flickr suggested it is Cryptocarya rhodosperma. I thought the zig-zag arrangement of the leaves may be a good distinguishing character.
This tree of rain forest is known commonly as the Rose Walnut or even more descriptively as the Domatia Tree, the latter name alluding to the large and obvious domatia occuring at the lateral nerve-midrib junctions at the underside of … Continue reading →
Even with flowers, the members of the Lauraceae are hard to identify. But this one has a beautiful rose-colored centre (or entire flower), and the three-part flowers bespeak its membership in a ancient lineage of flowering plants. Thus the common … Continue reading →
Probably one of the most common species if the Laurel family in the wet tropics, L. leefeana is an endemic tree that is found in most open forest areas in proximity to rainforest, and is thus a characteristic component of … Continue reading →
Been in Australia for over a decade gazing at plants, both large and small, grasses and trees, in rain forest and savanna, in the tropics and in temperate zones. I love connecting with people with similar interests. You can read more about me on my About page and at my personal BLOG.
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Leaf Whispering in the Tropics 