Gmelina fasciculiflora
{{Short description|Species of tree}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Gmelina fasciculiflora.jpg
|image_caption = Flowers and buds
|status = LC
|status_system = QLDNCA
|status_ref = {{R|DESQLD}}
|genus = Gmelina
|species = fasciculiflora
|authority = Benth.
}}
Gmelina fasciculiflora, known as the northern white beech is a species of trees endemic to the Queensland tropical rain forests, Australia, of the mint (Lamiaceae) plant family.{{Cite web|url=http://www-public.jcu.edu.au/discovernature/plantcairns/JCUDEV_006029 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120718234026/http://www-public.jcu.edu.au/discovernature/plantcairns/JCUDEV_006029 |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 July 2012 |last1=Jackes |first1=Betsy |date=14 Dec 2012 |title=Gmelina fasciculiflora (Northern White Beech) |website=Discover Nature at JCU. Plants on Cairns Campus |location=Cairns, Australia |publisher=James Cook University |format=webpage |access-date=16 May 2013 }} It is one of four recognised species of the genus Gmelina found in Australia.
{{cite web
| title= Gmelina%
| url= http://www.anbg.gov.au/cgi-bin/apni?TAXON_NAME=Gmelina%25 | access-date= 26 Apr 2013
| type= listing by % wildcard matching of all taxa relevant to Australia
| work = Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), Integrated Botanical Information System (IBIS) database
| publisher= Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government
}}
Taxonomy
Gmelina fasciculiflora was first described by English botanist George Bentham in his Flora Australiensis in 1870, from a collection by Dallachy. Its species name is derived from Latin and means "flowers in clusters".{{Cite book | last1=Elliot | first1=Rodger W. | last2=Jones | first2=David L. | last3=Blake | first3=Trevor |title=Encyclopaedia of Australian Plants Suitable for Cultivation: Volume 4 (Eu-Go)|year=1986|page=373 |publisher=Lothian Press |location=Port Melbourne |isbn=0-85091-589-9}}
Description
It shares characteristics with the more southerly species Gmelina leichhardtii. Having pale twigs, similar shaped opposite leaves with a stem around 2 cm long. Leaves, however, are glossy and not nearly as hairy as the southern species. The leaves are 12 cm long and 7 wide. Flat glands may be seen at the base of the leaves as well as hairy domatia on the underside of the leaves. Purple spotted cream coloured flowers appear from February to May on large panicles. These attractive flowers are around 2 cm long.David L. Jones, Rainforest Plants of Australia. page 222 {{ISBN|0-7301-0381-1}} They later form purple coloured fleshy fruit in the form of a flattened drupe, 1 to 2 cm in diameter, ripening from September to January. As with the white beech, the fruit has a strong scent, and the aril quickly turns brown when exposed to the air. Stains on clothing from the flesh of this fruit are difficult to remove.
Habitat and ecology
The natural habitat is both lowland and highland rainforests of northeastern Queensland. The fruit are eaten by the wompoo fruit dove.{{Cite journal|title=The Ecology of Fruit Pigeons in Tropical Northern Queensland|author=Crome FHJ |journal=Australian Wildlife Research|volume=2|issue=2|pages=155–85|doi=10.1071/WR9750155|year=1975 }}
Cultivation and uses
Gmelina fasciculiflora has grown and flowered well in cultivation in Brisbane, where it has been planted in public parks. The timber is fairly soft for a hardwood and acidic. It is not resistant to termites. It is highly regarded for carving in Queensland.{{Cite web |url=http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/26_5723.htm |title=White beech |date=24 October 2007 |author=Gary Hopewell |publisher=Department of Primary Industries, Queensland Government |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100805060538/http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/26_5723.htm |archive-date=2010-08-05 }}
References
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
{{cite web |url=https://apps.des.qld.gov.au/species-search/details/?id=12436 |title=Species profile—Gmelina fasciculiflora |year=2024 |website=Queensland Department of Environment and Science |publisher=Queensland Government |access-date=26 January 2025}}
{{cite web |author1=F.A.Zich |author2=B.P.M.Hyland |author3=T.Whiffen |author4=R.A.Kerrigan |author2-link=Bernard Hyland |year=2020 |access-date=7 June 2021 |url=https://apps.lucidcentral.org/rainforest/text/entities/Gmelina_fasciculiflora.htm |title=Gmelina fasciculiflora |website=Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants Edition 8 (RFK8) |publisher=Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (CANBR), Australian Government}}
{{cite web |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/name/apni/92550 |title=Gmelina fasciculiflora |website=Australian Plant Name Index (APNI) |publisher=Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research, Australian Government |access-date=26 January 2025}}
}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q5573729}}