Beilschmiedia Bancroftii (F.M.Bailey) C.T.White Family: Lauraceae White, C.T

Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants - Online edition Beilschmiedia bancroftii (F.M.Bailey) C.T.White Family: Lauraceae White, C.T. (1918) Queensland Department of Agriculture and Stock. Botany Bulletin 20: 17. Common name: Ash, Canary; Canary Ash; Walnut, Yellow; Yellow Walnut; Yellow Nut Stem Blaze odour conspicuous, strongly resembling that of sugar-cane (Saccharum officinale). Leaves Twigs terete or angular, clothed in straight, white or pale brown, appressed hairs when young but glabrous when older. Leaf blades about 7-15 x 2-3 cm, green or slightly glaucous on the underside, clothed in straight, white or pale brown, appressed hairs when young but almost glabrous at maturity. Midrib raised on the upper surface. Petioles flat or channelled on the upper surface. Oil Flower. © Barry Jago dots visible with a lens. Flowers Tepals about 2.1-3.5 mm long. Stamens nine. Staminodes three, cylindrical or clavate. Ovary conspicuously stalked. Fruit Fruits about 65-75 x 50-60 mm, not bilobed. Cotyledons cream. Endocarp about 2.0-2.5 mm thick usually with a sharp protuberance at each pole. The rat-eaten remains of the hard seed shells (endocarps) usually present under large trees. Seedlings Fruit, side views, cross section At the tenth leaf stage: leaf blade green on the underside; petiole hairy; oil dots small and only visible and seed. © W. T. Cooper with a lens; new leaves hairy on both the upper and lower surfaces. Seed germination time 210 to 532 days. Distribution and Ecology Endemic to NEQ, restricted to the area between Bloomfield and Tully. Altitudinal range from near sea level to 1200 m. Grows in well developed rain forest on a variety of sites. Natural History & Notes The seeds of this species were utilised by aboriginals but only after treatment. They are toxic when fresh. Produces millable logs and the sawn timber and veneer marketed as Yellow Walnut, a useful structural and decorative timber. Wood specific gravity 0.64-0.75. Hyland (1989). Scale bar 10mm. © CSIRO Synonyms Cryptocarya bancroftii F.M.Bailey, Queensland Department of Agriculture and Stock. Botany Bulletin 2: 16(1891), Type: Johnstone River, Dr. T.L. Bancroft; other scrubs of tropical Queensland, Bellenden-Ker Expedition. Beilschmiedia lachnostemonea F.Muell., The Victorian Naturalist 9: 11(1893), Type: Russells River; W. Sayer. RFK Code 48

Tenth leaf stage. © CSIRO

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