Harpullia alata

Harpullia alata, common name -winged tulip or wing-leaved tulip,[3] is a tree in the family Sapindaceae, endemic to eastern Australia, and found from Brisbane, Queensland to Grafton, New South Wales.[3]

Harpullia alata
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Sapindaceae
Genus: Harpullia
Species:
H. alata
Binomial name
Harpullia alata
Occurrence data from AVH

Description

Harpullia alata is a tree which grows to a height of 7 m. It has smooth parts except for its young growth and its inflorescences. The leaf rachis and its stem have broad toothed wings. The leaf rachis is 11–18 cm long, carrying 6 - 12 leaflets which are elliptic and 6–18 cm long by 2.5–7 cm wideon a stalk which is 6–10.5 cm long. The inflorescences occur in the axils and are 5–14 cm long, on an inflorescence stalk which is densely covered with very short soft hairs. The sepals are 7 mm long and the petals are 12 mm long. There are eight stamens. The ovary is covered in short, weak, soft hairs. The style is flat and reflexed. The sepals persist in fruit. There are 2 seeds per locule, which are almost enclosed in a yellow to red aril.[3]

This is the only Australian Harpullia species that has dentate margins on the leaflets and has wings on the leaf stem.[3]

Habitat

It grows in rainforest.[3]

Taxonomy & naming

The species was formally described in 1860 by Victorian government botanist Ferdinand von Mueller from a specimen collected by Dr Hermann Beckler near the Clarence River in New South Wales.[1][2] The species epithet, alata, is a Latin adjective meaning "winged", and describes the plant as being "winged".[3] The type specimen is held at Kew (K) k000701234.

References
  1. "Harpullia alata". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
  2. Mueller, F.J.H. von (1860). "Sapindaceae Harpullia alata". Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae. 2 (14): 103.
  3. Reynolds, S.T. (2020). "Harpullia alata". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, Canberra. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
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