Monoon michaelii

Monoon michaelii is a tree to {{cvt|30|m}} tall, the shoots and young branches are covered in soft fine hairs. The leaves are arranged alternately on the twigs and held on a petiole up to {{cvt|9|mm}} long. The leaves are mostly {{botanygloss|glabrous}} and measure up to {{cvt|19|cm}} long by {{cvt|7|cm}} wide. They are elliptic to ovate or lanceolate, with 5{{nbnd}}10 lateral veins either side of the midrib.{{R|FOA|RFK|COOPER2}}

The inflorescences take the form of a fascicle or raceme, are produced in the {{botanygloss|axil|leaf axils}} or directly from the branches (a process known as ramiflory). They bear up to six flowers, each with two whorls of three cream to yellow petals — the outer petals smaller, about {{cvt|25|mm|0}} long and {{cvt|5|mm|1}} wide, inner petals up to {{cvt|65|mm|1}} long and {{cvt|11|mm|1}} wide. There are about 60 stamens, all about {{cvt|1|mm|2}} long, and about 20 carpels about {{cvt|0.7|mm|2}} long.{{R|FOA|RFK|COOPER2}}

The fruit is an aggregate fruit of botanical berries — in other words, it appears as a cluster of individual fruitlets, each of which has developed from one of the carpels from a single flower. The fruitlets are orange, measure about {{cvt|6|cm}} long and {{cvt|5|cm}} wide, and contain one brown, shallowly-wrinkled seed about {{cvt|4|by|2.5|cm|1}}.{{R|FOA|RFK|COOPER2}}

Flowering occurs from November to March, and fruit appear from May to December.{{R|FOA}}

This plant was first described – as Polyalthia michaelii – in 2015 by the Australian botanist Cyril Tenison White. Almost a century later, botanists Bine Xue, Richard M.K. Saunders, et al. reviewed the genus Polyalthia, and in the process they gave this species the new combination Monoon michaelii.{{R|XUE|APNI|FOA}}

The species epithet michaelii is in honour of Norman Michael, an Anglican minister and active plant collector in Queensland. He collected the type specimen of this species.{{R|FOA|COOPER2}}

Monoon michaelii is restricted to a very small area of northeastern Queensland, mostly contained within the boundaries of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. It inhabits rainforest around Mt Bartle Frere and Mt Bellenden Ker, in the catchments of the North and South Johnstone, the Russell and the Mulgrave Rivers, mostly on the coastal plains but ascending up to the edge of the Atherton Tableland. The altitudinal range is from sea level to about {{cvt|750|m}}, and the total "area of occupancy" is just {{cvt|198|sqkm}}.{{R|ALA}}{{efn|name=aoo}}

This plant serves as a host for the larvae of the green-spotted triangle (Graphium agamemnon), pale green triangle (Graphium eurypylus), and green triangle (Graphium macfarlanei) butterflies. Fruit are eaten by cassowaries (Casuarius casuarius) and spectacled flying foxes (Pteropus conspicillatus).

{{As of|2024|09}}, this species has been assessed to be of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and by the Queensland Government under its Nature Conservation Act.{{R|IUCN|DESQLD}}

The tree produces a useful hardwood with the trade name of 'canary beech'. It has a specific gravity of 0.62.{{R|RFK|QTIMBER}}

File:Monoon michaelii 284731358.jpg|Trunk

File:Monoon michaelii 284731496.jpg|Foliage

File:Monoon michaelii ALA2.jpg|Leaf detail (x-ray)

File:Monoon-michaelii-SF23061-01.jpg|Fruit (fruitlet)

{{Reflist|28em|refs=

{{cite iucn |author=Louden, M. |year=2024 |title=Monoon michaelii |volume=2024 |page=e.T239633074A239633076 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-1.RLTS.T239633074A239633076.en |access-date=21 January 2025}}

{{cite web |url=https://apps.des.qld.gov.au/species-search/details/?id=35592 |title=Species profile—Monoon michaelii |year=2024 |website=Queensland Department of Environment and Science |publisher=Queensland Government |access-date=3 September 2024}}

{{cite web |url=https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Monoon%20michaelii |title=Monoon michaelii |last1=Jessup |first1=L.W. |last2=Kodela |first2=P.G. |year=2022 |editor-last1=Kodela |editor-first1=P.G. |website=Flora of Australia |publisher=Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra |access-date=3 September 2024}}

{{cite web |url=https://apps.lucidcentral.org/rainforest/text/entities/Monoon_michaelii.htm |title=Monoon michaelii |author1=F.A.Zich |author2=B.P.M.Hyland |author3=T.Whiffen |author4=R.A.Kerrigan |author2-link=Bernard Hyland |year=2020 |website=Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants Edition 8 (RFK8) |publisher=Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (CANBR), Australian Government |access-date=3 September 2024}}

{{cite web |url=https://id.biodiversity.org.au/name/apni/246289 |title=Monoon michaelii |website=Australian Plant Name Index (APNI) |publisher=Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research, Australian Government |access-date=3 September 2024}}

{{cite web |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77123027-1 |title=Monoon michaelii (C.T.White) B.Xue & R.M.K.Saunders |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |year=2024 |access-date=3 September 2024}}

{{Cite book |last1=Cooper |first1=Wendy |last2=Cooper |first2=William T. |author-link2=William T. Cooper |date=June 2004 |title=Fruits of the Australian Tropical Rainforest |publication-place=Clifton Hill, Victoria, Australia |publisher=Nokomis Editions |isbn=978-0-9581742-1-3 |url=https://www.nokomis.com.au/product/nokomis-published-books/fruits-australian-tropical-rainforest/ |page=26 (as Polyalthia michaelii) }}

{{cite web |title=beech, canary {{!}} Polyalthia michaelii |url=https://qtimber.daf.qld.gov.au/timber-properties/beech-canarypolyalthia-michaelii |website=QTimber |publisher=Queensland Government |access-date=3 September 2024}}

{{cite journal |last1=Xue |first1=Bine |last2=Su |first2=Yvonne C.F. |last3=Thomas |first3=Daniel C. |last4=Saunders |first4=Richard M.K. |title=Pruning the polyphyletic genus Polyalthia (Annonaceae) and resurrecting the genus Monoon |journal=Taxon |date=2012 |volume=61 |issue=5 |pages=1021–1039 |doi=10.1002/tax.615009 |jstor=41679348}}

{{cite web |title=Spatial Portal - Monoon michaelii |url=https://spatial.ala.org.au/ws/tasks/output/3688938/Calculated%20AOO%20and%20EOO.html |website=Atlas of Living Australia |publisher=CSIRO |access-date=3 September 2024}}

}}

{{notelist|refs=

{{efn|name=aoo|For a definition of Area of Occupancy see [https://support.ala.org.au/support/solutions/articles/6000208436-area-of-occupancy-and-extent-of-occurrence this page] at the Atlas of Living Australia}}

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{{Wikispecies}}

{{Commonscat}}

• [https://avh.ala.org.au/occurrences/search?taxa=Monoon+michaelii#tab_mapView View a map] of herbarium collections of this species at the Australasian Virtual Herbarium
• [https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/observations?taxon_id=1454954 View observations] of this species on iNaturalist
• [https://flickriver.com/search/Monoon+michaelii View images] of this species on Flickriver.com
• [https://www.anbg.gov.au/biography/michael-norman.html Biography of Norman Michael] on the Australian National Botanic Gardens website

{{Taxonbar|from=Q42707909}}

michaelii

Category:Least concern flora of Australia

Category:Endemic flora of Queensland

Category:Taxa named by Bine Xue

Category:Taxa named by Richard M.K. Saunders

Category:Plants described in 1918