| Brown kurrajong | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Commersonia bartramia in West Java | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Malvales |
| Family: | Malvaceae |
| Genus: | Commersonia |
| Species: | C. bartramia |
| Binomial name | |
| Commersonia bartramia | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
List
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Commersonia bartramia, commonly known asbrown kurrajong,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the familyMalvaceae and is native to Southeast Asia, the Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales. It is a tree or shrub with heart-shaped to egg-shaped leaves much paler on the lower surface, and sometimes with fine, irregular teeth on the edges.
Commersonia bartramia is a shrub or tree that typically grows to a height of up to 25 m (82 ft), the trunk up to 50 cm (20 in) in diameter and sometimes formingbuttress roots. The leaves are heart-shaped to egg-shaped or broadly egg-shaped, 50–140 mm (2.0–5.5 in) long and 10–20 mm (0.39–0.79 in) wide on a densely hairypetiole 10–30 mm (0.39–1.18 in) long withstipules 2–6 mm (0.079–0.236 in) long at the base. The tip of the leaf tapers to a fine point, there are sometimes fine, irregular teeth on the lower surface, and the lower surface is much paler than the upper surface. The flowers are arranged in dense heads of 20 to 100 or more 30–100 mm (1.2–3.9 in) long, the groups on apeduncle 5–25 mm (0.20–0.98 in) long, each flower onpedicel 2–7 mm (0.079–0.276 in) long. Thesepal are joined at the base with 5 white lobes 1–3 mm (0.039–0.118 in) long, and five white petals withligules as long as the sepal lobes, and there is a singlestaminodes between each pair ofstamens. Flowering occurs from October to March and the fruit is a hairy, darkcapsule 15–25 mm (0.59–0.98 in) long.[2][3]
Brown kurrajong was first formally described in 1759 byCarl Linnaeus who gave it the nameMuntingia bartramia inAmoenitates Academicae.[4][5] In 1917,Elmer Drew Merrill changed the name toCommersonia bartramia in his book,An Interpretation of Rumphius's Herbarium Amboinense.[6][7]
Thespecific epithet (bartramia) honours the American botanist,John Bartram.[3]
Commersonia bartramia grows in rainforest, and along creeks and gullies near the edges of rainforest. It is a common species in regrowth areas of rainforest and occurs from southern China to as far south as theBellinger River in New South Wales.[3][8]