Elaeocarpus reticulatus

Blueberry Ash
Blueberry Ash - flowers and fruit
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Oxalidales
Family: Elaeocarpaceae
Genus: Elaeocarpus
Species: E. reticulatus
Binomial name
Elaeocarpus reticulatus
Sm.
Synonyms

Elaeocarpus cyaneus Ait. ex John Sims

Elaeocarpus reticulatus, the Blueberry Ash, is a large shrub or tree which can grow to a height of 15m.[1] In New South Wales (NSW) rainforests it can attain a height of 30 metres.[2] Its most conspicuous features are white or pink cup-shaped flowers with fringed edges and round blue fruits. Strictly botanically, the fruits are not true berries but drupes. Blueberry Ash also has leaves which turn bright red as they get older.[1]

This is a hardy plant, and grows natively in eastern Australia under many conditions. It is descended from rainforest-like environments where it still grows in southeastern Queensland and eastern NSW but has shifted its range to include the drier climate of south-eastern Australia (its leaves have become harder for example). In New South Wales it grows in moist areas such as gullies and around watercourses as well as in tall Eucalyptus forests and sandy coastal scrub.

References

  1. 1 2 Brown, Liz (2002). "Elaeocarpus reticulatus - Growing Native Plants". Australian National Botanic Gardens.
    • Floyd, A.G., Rainforest Trees of Mainland South-eastern Australia, Inkata Press 1989, ISBN 0-909605-57-2

External links

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