Ventilago viminalis
{{Short description|Species of tree}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Speciesbox
|name = Supplejack
|image = Ventilago viminalis.jpg
|genus = Ventilago
|species = viminalis
|authority = Hook.
}}
File:Ventilago viminalis00.jpg)]]
Ventilago viminalis, commonly known as supplejack, vine tree or whip vine, is a tree native to Northern and Central Australia from coastal regions of Queensland to the Northern Territory and Western Australia (with occurrences in New South Wales and South Australia).{{Cite book|last=Kevin Thiele|title=Flora of Australia|publisher=Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment|year=2016|location=Canberra|chapter=Ventilago viminalis|access-date=2021-03-21|chapter-url=https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Ventilago%20viminalis}}
Description
The plant begins life as a scrambler, using other trees, shrubs and even grasses for support. As it ages the stem becomes increasingly woody and the plant eventually develops a growth form more typical of a tree.{{Cite book|last=Anderson|first=Eric|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/31064192|title=Plants of central Queensland : their identification and uses|date=1993|publisher=Dept. of Primary Industries|isbn=0-7242-3990-1|location=Brisbane, Qld.|pages=118|oclc=31064192}}{{cite web |author1=F.A.Zich |author2=B.P.M.Hyland |author3=T.Whiffen |author4=R.A.Kerrigan |author2-link=Bernard Hyland |year=2020 |url=https://apps.lucidcentral.org/rainforest/text/entities/Ventilago_viminalis.htm |title=Ventilago viminalis |website=Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants Edition 8 (RFK8) |publisher=Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (CANBR), Australian Government |access-date=28 June 2021}} The tree can reach 7 metres in height and often has several trunks with pendulous branch extremities.{{cite web |vauthors= Cowie I, Lewis D, etal |title=Ventilago viminalis |url=http://eflora.nt.gov.au/factsheet?id=20341 |website=FloraNT, Northern Territory Herbarium |publisher=Northern Territory Government, Darwin. |access-date=28 June 2021 |year=}} The bark is dark and fissured. The leaves have petioles and are green and lanceolate. The flowers are small and greenish yellow. Flowering season varies depending on rainfall.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}} The fruits are indehiscent and have a single prominent longitudinal wing.
Taxonomy
It was first described by William Jackson Hooker in 1848.{{APNI2|name=Ventilago viminalis|id=84827}}{{cite Q|Q5946713|pages= 369|url=https://iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/view/drs:8609641$417i}} The species epithet, viminalis, is a Latin adjective describing the plant as having long flexible shoots suitable for basket work.{{Cite web|title=viminalis,-is,-e|url=http://www.plantillustrations.org/epithet.php?id_epithet=200002|access-date=2021-03-21|website=www.plantillustrations.org}} It is a member of the Rhamnaceae family.
Australian aboriginal uses and names
Australian Aborigines eat the gum from this tree. They scrape it off as it comes through, twisting it onto a stick. It can be chewed like chewing gum. The supplejack in Arrernte is called Atnyerampwe, and the gum is Ngwarle atnyerampwe.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}} In the Kimberley Ventilago viminalis is commonly called the 'medicine tree'. Local people cut chunks out of the bark or roots to boil up and make an infusion to treat a variety of skin ailments as well as bruises and rheumatism. Trees with large telltale oval or oblong scars in the bark are often found in the local bush.{{Cite book|last1=Kenneally|first1=Kevin F.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/36270417|title=Broome and beyond : plants and people of the Dampier Peninsula, Kimberley, Western Australia|last2=Choules Edinger|first2=Daphne|last3=Willing|first3=Tim|date=1996|publisher=Dept. of Conservation and Land Management|isbn=0-7309-6972-X|location=Como, W.A.|pages=171–172|oclc=36270417}}
The Walmajarri people of Paruku Indigenous Protected Area call this tree Walakarri,{{Cite Q|Q106088428|pages=76}}
References
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Category:Australian Aboriginal bushcraft
Category:Medicinal plants of Australia