Aceratium ferrugineum

Aceratium ferrugineum is a species of medium-sized trees, commonly known as rusty carabeen, constituting part of the plant family Elaeocarpaceae.[1][2] They are endemic to the Wet Tropics rainforests of northeastern Queensland, Australia.[2]

Aceratium ferrugineum
Flowers, cultivated plant at Roma Street Parkland, Brisbane, 11 Dec 2011, by Tatiana Gerus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Oxalidales
Family: Elaeocarpaceae
Genus: Aceratium
Species:
A. ferrugineum
Binomial name
Aceratium ferrugineum

Within the Wet Tropics region rusty carabeen trees grow only in the restricted areas of luxuriant, mature, mountain rainforest on the Mount Carbine Tableland between Black Mountain and Mt Spurgeon, and on Mt Lewis.[2][3] There they grow on soils built from granite parent materials.[2]

Description

Mature trees have fluted trunks and grow to 30 m (100 ft) tall. The leaves occur opposite each other, when new have dense rusty hairs all over them which persist on the underside and the top midrib, and measure 7.5 cm–16 cm × 3.5 cm–7.5 cm (3.0 in–6.3 in × 1.4 in–3.0 in). Near the ends of new growing branches grow racemes of pink flowers, each approximately 20 mm (0.8 in) long. They produce bunches of yellow–orange–red, oval shaped fruits measuring 30 mm–45 mm × 18 mm–28 mm (1.18 in–1.77 in × 0.71 in–1.10 in).[2][4] Their fibrous ripe flesh smells like ripe watermelon.[3]

Although not yet well known, the trees have some popularity in cultivation, for example in Brisbane.

Fruiting, cultivated plant at Roma Street Parkland, Brisbane, 11 Dec 2011, by Tatiana Gerus

References
  1. "Aceratium ferrugineum C.T.White". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  2. F.A.Zich; B.P.M.Hyland; T.Whiffen; R.A.Kerrigan (2020). "Aceratium ferrugineum". Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants Edition 8 (RFK8). Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (CANBR), Australian Government. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  3. Breeden, Stanley (1992). Visions of a Rainforest: A year in Australia's tropical rainforest. Illustrated by William T. Cooper. Foreword by Sir David Attenborough. (first ed.). East Roseville: Simon & Schuster Australia. page 150, paragraph 5. ISBN 0731800583.
  4. Cooper, Wendy; Cooper, William T. (June 2004). "Aceratium ferrugineum C.T.White". Fruits of the Australian Tropical Rainforest. Clifton Hill, Victoria, Australia: Nokomis Editions. p. 157. ISBN 9780958174213. Archived from the original on 9 April 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2013.


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