Common name: Common Silkpod, Monkey Rope
Parsonsia straminea (R.Br.) F.Muell. APNI* Synonyms: Parsonsia straminea var. glabrata Pichon APNI*
Description: Woody vine climbing by adventitious roots and twinning stems, sap watery.
Leaves dimorphic; adult leaves elliptic to oblong-ovate, 4–24 cm long, 1.5–8 cm wide, (larger in shade leaves), base rounded or slightly cordate, lower surface glaucous, yellowish green, leathery to stiff, thick; finely reticulate on both surfaces, reticulum raised in dried leaves; leaves on juvenile plants 1–5 cm long, cordate, thin, purple on lower surface; petiole 5–45 mm long.
Flowers pale yellow, in terminal and axillary panicles, minutely pubescent. Corolla lobes 4–5 mm long, spreading or recurved, brown hairy outside, white hairy inside, in the lower half or almost to the tips; tube c. 3 mm long. Anther cone half-exserted to almost fully exserted, filaments not twisted.
Capsule 10–20 cm long, slender.
Flowering: most of year.
Distribution and occurrence: Widespread and common in most types of rainforest and sclerophyll forest; north from Mt Dromedary.
NSW subdivisions: NC, CC, SC, NT, CT, CWS
Other Australian states: Qld
Populations of plant similar to this species occurring on LHI have been known as var. glabrata Pichon, but they belong to a distinct unnamed species.
Text by G. J. Harden & J. B. Williams
Taxon concept: J.B. Williams (1996)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
|
