Notelaea longifolia

Notelaea longifolia is a very common shrub or small tree in eastern Australia. Occurring in or adjacent to rainforest from Mimosa Rocks National Park (37° S) to Bamaga (11° S) in far north Queensland. Common names include large mock-olive or long-leaved-olive. An attractive ornamental plant.

Large mock-olive
Large mock-olive on a sand dune behind Seven Mile Beach, New South Wales, Australia
Flowers: Bangalley Head, Avalon, New South Wales
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Oleaceae
Genus: Notelaea
Species:
N. longifolia
Binomial name
Notelaea longifolia
Vent.[1][2]
Collections data from AVH
Synonyms[3]
  • Notelaea laurifolia Kunth
  • Notelaea longifolia var. candolleana Domin
  • Notelaea longifolia var. decomposita Domin
  • Notelaea longifolia f. glabra P.S.Green
  • Notelaea longifolia f. intermedia P.S.Green
  • Notelaea longifolia var. rigida (Desf.) Domin
  • Notelaea nervosa (C.F.Gaertn.) Steud.
  • Notelaea reticulata DC.
  • Notelaea rigida Desf.
  • Postuera longifolia (Vent.) Raf.
  • Rhysospermum ellipticum C.F.Gaertn.
  • Rhysospermum nervosum C.F.Gaertn.

Description

Usually a shrub is around 3 metres tall, but occasionally it can be up to 9 metres tall, with a trunk diameter of 30 cm. The trunk is often crooked, the crown wide and dense. Grey brown bark is scaly, fissured and hard. Branchlets have small pale lenticels, otherwise pale brown and slender.

Leaves

Leaves variable in size and shape. Some narrow lanceolate, others lanceolate and some a broad ovate shape. 3 to 16 cm long, 1 to 6 cm wide. Sometimes with a prominent tip, other times blunt. Leaves gradually tapering at the stem end. Dark green above, duller below, stiff and dry to touch. Leaf stalks absent or up to 8 mm long. Leaves veiny, but net veins are irregular and not as distinct as in Notelaea venosa.

Flowers and fruit

Pale yellow flowers usually form between April and October on racemes at the leaf axils. Racemes are 2 cm long. Fruit matures from November to March. Being a dark blue or black fleshy drupe 10 to 16 mm long with a single pointed or egg shaped seed, 8 to 12 mm long. Regeneration from fresh seed is slow, taking up to a year.

References
  3. "Notelaea longifolia Vent.". Kwe Science | Plants of the World online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
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