Maniltoa lenticellata
Maniltoa lenticellata is a flowering tropical tree in the family Fabaceae. It is native to tropical semi-deciduous rainforest and gallery forests in northern Queensland, some of the Torres Strait Islands, and New Guinea. Common names include: Silk Handkerchief Tree, Cascading Bean, Native Handkerchief Tree.
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| Species: | M. lenticellata |
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| Maniltoa lenticellata (C. T. White) | |
Maniltoa lenticellata can grow up to 22 m (72 ft) tall but, more commonly, only reaches 10–12 m (33–39 ft). It has compound leaves with 2-4 pairs of leaflets. New leaves are folded inside dull red bracts and then released in a spectacular cascade of white foliage. The fruity-scented flowers which appear in north Queensland in September to October have 3 to 5 white-cream petals, and may be pollinated by marsupials or bats. They produce a brown pod 25–70 mm long by 18-50mm containing one brown seed in November to March. It is a favoured garden tree.[1][2]
"Maniltoa lenticellata var. villosa Verdc. from New Guinea differs from var. lenticellata in having ovaries with dense, persistent hairs." Quoted from:
Footnotes
- Endress and Steiner-Gafner (1996), p. 262.
- Beasley (2009), p. 111.
References
- Beasley, John. (2009). Plants of Cape York: The Compact Guide. John Beasley, Kuranda, Qld., Australia. ISBN 978-0-9806863-0-2.
- Endress, Peter K. and Brigitta Steiner-Gafner. (1996). Diversity and Evolutionary Biology of Tropical Flowers. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521565103, ISBN 978-0-521-56510-3