Vorlage:Short description Vorlage:Use Australian English Vorlage:Use dmy dates Vorlage:Speciesbox
Cerbera floribunda, commonly known as cassowary plum, grey milkwood, or rubber tree, is a plant in the family Apocynaceae which is native to the region from Sulawesi to the Solomon Islands, including north east Queensland.
Description
BearbeitenCerbera floribunda is a tree that grows up to Vorlage:Convert in height. The bark is brown to grey/black, and the sap wood and heart wood are both white. Leaves are lanceolate-elliptic, glossy green above and paler beneath, alternate or whorled and crowded towards the ends of the twigs. They measure up to Vorlage:Convert long by Vorlage:Convert wide, with 13 to 20 curved lateral veins and are attached by a long petiole up to Vorlage:Convert long.[1][2]
The inflorescence is a much branched cyme up to Vorlage:Convert with usually more than 50 flowers. The flowers have 5 white sepals, a corolla tube up to Vorlage:Convert by Vorlage:Convert wide with 5 free lobes at the end. They are white with a pink or red centre, are about Vorlage:Convert in diameter, and have a sweet scent.[1][2]
Fruits are a bright blue/purple drupe measuring about Vorlage:Convert long by Vorlage:Convert wide, slightly pointed and the end away from the pedicel (stem), with a single large seed.[1][2]
Taxonomy
BearbeitenCerbera floribunda was first described by Karl Moritz Schumann in Die Flora von Kaiser Wilhelms Land (K.M.Schumann & U.M.Hollrung, Fl. Kais. Wilh. Land: 111 (1889)) in 1889.[3]
Distribution and habitat
BearbeitenThis is a tropical plant and favours abundant water. The native range is from Sulawesi, east through the Maluku Islands and New Guinea to Solomon Islands, and south to Queensland; it is widespread throughout the range and not considered to be endangered. It is generally found along creeks and marshes and always near permanent water.[3][2][4] Altitudinal range in Australia is from sea level to Vorlage:Convert.[1]
Ecology
BearbeitenFruits are swallowed whole by cassowaries, who are not affected by the toxins contained within. They then excrete the seeds later, helping to distribute them. The cassowary is the only animal able to provide this function, due to the size of the fruits, and this forms a classic example of a symbiotic relationship between the two species.
Rodents, in particular the White-tailed rat, eat the kernels after stripping away the flesh but in this case (if they leave some of the kernel behind) it is unlikely to germinate.[5]
Toxicity
BearbeitenAs with other species of Cerbera, and indeed many other species in the family Apocynaceae, fruits of this plant are toxic to humans. Cerbera species contain the cardiac glycoside cerberin, and if eaten will result in nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and potentially death.[4] The white sap, which is produced from all parts of the tree, may also cause skin irritation on contact.[6]
Uses
BearbeitenThe timber has been used for mouldings and interior finishings in Bouganville and other parts of Papua New Guinea, and for carvings and medicine in the Solomon Islands.[2]
Gallery
Bearbeiten-
Inflorescence -
Fruit -
Foliage and flowers
.jpg)
External links
BearbeitenSee a map of recorded sightings of Cerbera floribunda at the Australasian Virtual Herbarium
References
BearbeitenExternal links
Bearbeiten- Vorlage:Wikispecies-inline
- Vorlage:Commons category-inline
- View a map of historical sightings of this species at the Australasian Virtual Herbarium
- View observations of this species on iNaturalist
- View images of this species on Flickriver
[[Category:Cerbera|floribunda]] [[Category:Trees of Sulawesi]] [[Category:Trees of New Guinea]] [[Category:Trees of the Solomon Islands]] [[Category:Trees of the Maluku Islands]] [[Category:Gentianales of Australia]] [[Category:Flora of Queensland]]
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