Beilschmiedia
Beilschmiedia is a genus of trees and shrubs in family Lauraceae. Most of its species grow in tropical climates, but a few of them are native to temperate regions, and they are widespread in tropical Asia, Africa, Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand, North America, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. The best-known species to gardeners in temperate areas are B. berteroana and B. miersii because of their frost tolerance. Seeds of B. bancroftii were used as a source of food by Australian Aborigines. Timbers of some species are very valuable.
Overview
Beilschmiedia is a genus of about 260 to 270 species of trees or shrubs, with about 80 species in tropical Africa and Madagascar. They are commonly canopy trees, growing at elevations from near sea level to 2200 m. The trees grow in well-developed rainforests, and in warm or temperate forests on poorer sedimentary soils. Most species grow in tropical climates, but a few of them are native to temperate regions. They are widespread in tropical Africa, Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. The timber of some species is very valuable.
Ecology
Beilschmiedia falls within the Lauraceae, a family of aromatic evergreen trees or shrubs. Many botanical species are similar in foliage to the Lauraceae due to convergent evolution. Those plants are adapted to high rainfall and humidity. The patterns of speciation in the Lauraceae indicate, since the onset of aridification on the continents 15 million years ago, rainforest species diversified. One of the products of aridification is the isolation of populations and this likely caused the increase in the rate of speciation as found in the Lauraceae. This genus has species adapted to the laurel forest habitat, so common in the Lauraceae and species adapted to a more Mediterranean-type climate with a dry season with lower rainfall. The morphology of sclerophyllous species is divergent from other humid tropical climate species of the genus. The greatest diversity of species and a greater presence of the genus is given in cloud forest and tropical rainforest in Asia and Southeast Asia. In Madagascar, the genus Beilschmiedia is particularly important in the island flora, and their species were isolated when the island was separated from the African continent.
The genus Beilschmiedia is present in a greater climatic distribution area than other genera of Lauraceae, Beilschmiedia species grow well in moist, well-drained ground, and tolerate a variety of soil types, and attain a maximum in tropical and wetter areas of distribution, but their pattern of speciation results in some cases from the product of aridification of the habitat. Some Beilschmiedia species are adapted to drier conditions than the typical Lauraceae. Some endangered relict species are living in temperate areas and are distributed in Mediterranean climate, and tropical and subtropical lowland forests and montane rainforest.
Shade-loving B. mannii grows in riverine and swamp forest, or in evergreen primary and secondary forest. B. gaboonensis, B. lebrunii, and B. nitida are included in subgenus Hufelandia of Beilschmiedia. B. variabilis and B. zenkeri are included in section Acrothecon.
Beilschmiedia gaboonensis is a medium-sized tree up to 30 m tall with a bole diameter up to 60 cm. It is distributed from Nigeria to DR Congo and occurs in wet and marshy locations in lowland rainforest. B. lebrunii is a rare tree up to 15 m tall with a bole diameter up to 30 cm, occurring in DR Congo in forest at 1450–1700 m elevation. B. nitida is a shrub or small tree up to 8 m tall, distributed in Cameroon and Congo.
Beilschmiedia variabilis is a shrub or small tree up to 10 m tall with a bole diameter up to 25 cm, occurring rather commonly in Congo in the understorey of forest in swampy, periodically inundated or drier locations. B. zenkeri is a shrub or small tree up to 15 m tall, occurring in Cameroon and Congo in swampy and periodically inundated forest.
The genus Beilschmiedia responded to favourable climatic periods and expanded across the available habitat, adapting also to more extreme conditions, but depending on favorable soil edaphic conditions. Beilschmiedia species need an annual oscillation of the temperature moderated by the proximity of the ocean and many species resist bad cold and frost.
A related vegetal community evolved millions of years ago on the supercontinent of Gondwana, and species of this community are now found on several separate areas of the Southern Hemisphere, including South America, Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and New Caledonia. Lauroid-leaved plant communities are found from humid montane tropical to cool temperate Southern Hemisphere climates, and important elements of what is known as the Antarctic flora.
The genus Beilschmiedia is present in Mexico, Venezuela, and southern Chile and Argentina from the Pacific Ocean to the Andes between 38° and 45° S latitude, where rainfall is abundant, from 1500 to 2500 mm according to locality and distributed throughout the year, but with some subhumid Mediterranean climate influence for three to four months in summer, and where temperatures are mild, with no month falling below 5 °C, and the warmest month below 22 °C.
Laurophyll trees appear in the highlands of New Guinea and New Britain, the Cape York Peninsula and the coastal mountains of Queensland and New South Wales in Australia, as well as New Caledonia, Tasmania, and New Zealand. These laurel forests are home to plants of the Antarctic flora related to those in the Valdivian laurel forests of southern Chile, including species of the laurel family and southern beech. Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, and New Caledonia were parts of the ancient supercontinent Gondwana, and have drifted north over millions of years with the Indo-Australian tectonic plate.
Description
Frequently, their bark is pale to dark brown, smooth or coarse, and they have fine, reddish-brown hairs densely covering the branchlets, and the young leaves are reddish. The dark green leaves are alternate and leathery. Sometimes broad, others small and narrow, the leaves have distinctive depressed veins. The flowers are greenish to cream to yellow-green, and pedicellate of 4–6 mm. The flowers often are clothed in dense reddish-brown hairs. The flowers are hermaphroditic and arranged in inflorescences. The inflorescence is an erect panicle arising from the leaf axil. The stamens are in two whorls; the ovary is in a superior position.
The fruit is variable from one species to other' in some species it is a drupe, large and globose green, 12 cm in diameter with a tip at the apex. In other species, the fruit is an erect, plum-like, dark purple or sometimes elliptical to ovoid drupe, dark purple when ripe, and covered in a waxy bloom. In others, the fruit is a black, round drupe with a glaucous bloom, with a single seed inside. Seed dispersal for many Beilschmiedia species is by birds that swallow them, so they are shaped to attract the birds. The one-seeded fruits are an important food source for birds, including being a favorite food of the native pigeons in New Zealand.
Species
The type species is Beilschmiedia roxburghiana, which ranges from the Himalayas to southern China, Indo-China and Peninsular Malaysia. Three Beilschmiedia species are endemic to New Zealand. taraire is a common canopy tree in the lowland forests of the North Island. The others are the common canopy tree tawa,, which has thin, willow-like leaves, and the tawaroa, which is similar to tawa but has broader leaves. The New Zealand pigeon is the only species which can disperse the large seeds of the taraire, which pass through its gut unharmed.
Beilschmiedia miersii and Beilschmiedia berteroana are endangered sclerophyllous trees endemic to central Chile. The northern belloto grows in coastal forest, while the southern belloto grows in submontane Andean zone of the central Chile's temperate deciduous forest region. Both forest associations are currently represented in the Chilean government's system of wild protected areas.
Accepted species
268 species are currently accepted:Beilschmiedia aborensis – AssamBeilschmiedia acuta – CameroonBeilschmiedia acutifolia – New GuineaBeilschmiedia alata – Gabon and Democratic Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia alloiophylla – Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, and VenezuelaBeilschmiedia ambigua – southern Democratic Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia anacardioides – Chad, Cameroon, Gabon, and Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia anay – central Mexico to GuatemalaBeilschmiedia andamanensis – Andaman IslandsBeilschmiedia angustielliptica – Mexico Beilschmiedia angustifolia – Brazil Beilschmiedia appendiculata – HainanBeilschmiedia argentata – Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, and southern VietnamBeilschmiedia assamica – Assam, Bangladesh, and MyanmarBeilschmiedia atra – Peninsular MalaysiaBeilschmiedia auriculata – Democratic Republic of the Congo and Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia balansae – northern VietnamBeilschmiedia bancroftii yellow walnut, wanga – northeastern QueenslandBeilschmiedia bangkae – SumatraBeilschmiedia baotingensis – HainanBeilschmiedia barensis – CameroonBeilschmiedia batangensis – CameroonBeilschmiedia berteroana southern belloto – central ChileBeilschmiedia bhutanica – BhutanBeilschmiedia bidoupensis – VietnamBeilschmiedia bolavenensis – LaosBeilschmiedia brachystachys – northeastern and eastern BorneoBeilschmiedia brachythyrsa – China Beilschmiedia bracteata – Democratic Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia brandisii – Eastern Himalayas, Assam, and BangladeshBeilschmiedia brasiliensis – Southeastern Colombia, Peru, and Brazilian AmazonBeilschmiedia brevifolia – HainanBeilschmiedia brevipaniculata – China Beilschmiedia brunnea – northeastern QueenslandBeilschmiedia calcitranthera – GabonBeilschmiedia castrisinensis – northeastern QueenslandBeilschmiedia caudata – LiberiaBeilschmiedia chevalieri – Liberia and Côte d'IvoireBeilschmiedia cinnamomea – Cameroon, Gabon, and Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia clarkei – Nepal, eastern Himalayas, Myanmar, Thailand, and LaosBeilschmiedia collina – northeastern QueenslandBeilschmiedia congestiflora – CameroonBeilschmiedia congolana – Cameroon, Gabon, Central African Republic, and CongoBeilschmiedia corbisieri – Cameroon, Gabon, and Democratic Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia costaricensis – Costa Rica to northern Venezuela and northern PeruBeilschmiedia crassa – Borneo Beilschmiedia crassifolia – CameroonBeilschmiedia crassipes – CameroonBeilschmiedia cryptocaryoides – Madagascar Beilschmiedia curviramea – Venezuela and northern GuyanaBeilschmiedia cuspidata – Cameroon and Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia cylindrica – China Beilschmiedia dalzellii – western India to the eastern Himalayas and AssamBeilschmiedia danhkyi – VietnamBeilschmiedia delicata – China Beilschmiedia descoingsii – Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia dictyoneura – Borneo, Sumatra, and Peninsular MalaysiaBeilschmiedia dielsiana – northeastern New GuineaBeilschmiedia dilmyana – Aru IslandsBeilschmiedia dinklagei – Cameroon and GabonBeilschmiedia diversiflora – Cameroon and Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia donisii – northwestern Democratic Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia elata – Sierra LeoneBeilschmiedia elegantissima – Myanmar and ThailandBeilschmiedia elliptica – southeastern Queensland and northeastern New South WalesBeilschmiedia emarginata – southern and southeastern BrazilBeilschmiedia erythrophloia – Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan, and VietnamBeilschmiedia fasciata – China Beilschmiedia fluminensis – southeastern BrazilBeilschmiedia foliosa – southern NigeriaBeilschmiedia fordii – southern China and VietnamBeilschmiedia frondosa – VietnamBeilschmiedia fruticosa – Cameroon and GabonBeilschmiedia fulva – Cameroon, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, and Democratic Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia furfuracea – China Beilschmiedia gaboonensis – southern Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, and Democratic Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia gallatlyi – MyanmarBeilschmiedia gemmiflora – Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Sulawesi, and New GuineaBeilschmiedia gigantocarpa – southern SulawesiBeilschmiedia gilbertii – Democratic Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia giorgii – Democratic Republic of the Congo and Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia gitingensis – Philippines.Beilschmiedia glabra – Borneo and Peninsular MalaysiaBeilschmiedia glandulosa – China Beilschmiedia glauciphylla – Borneo Beilschmiedia glomerata – PhilippinesBeilschmiedia grandibracteata – Cameroon and GabonBeilschmiedia grandifolia – Cameroon, Gabon, and Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia gynotrochioides – Borneo Beilschmiedia hartonoana – BorneoBeilschmiedia henghsienensis – China Beilschmiedia hermanii – Democratic Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia hexanthera – French GuianaBeilschmiedia hondurensis – southern Mexico to HondurasBeilschmiedia hutchinsoniana – southern Nigeria and CameroonBeilschmiedia immersinervis – Costa RicaBeilschmiedia insignis – Peninsular MalaysiaBeilschmiedia insularum – Cameroon, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, and Democratic Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia intermedia – China to VietnamBeilschmiedia jabassensis – CameroonBeilschmiedia jacobii – India Beilschmiedia jacques-felixii – Cameroon, Gabon, and Central African RepublicBeilschmiedia javanica – JavaBeilschmiedia kinabaluensis – Borneo Beilschmiedia klainei – Cameroon, Gabon, and Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia kochummenii – Peninsular MalaysiaBeilschmiedia kostermansiana Beilschmiedia kunstleri – Laos, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, and BorneoBeilschmiedia kweichowensis – southern ChinaBeilschmiedia kweo – eastern TanzaniaBeilschmiedia laevis – China, Hainan, and VietnamBeilschmiedia lanatella – northern ThailandBeilschmiedia lancifolia – JavaBeilschmiedia lancilimba – Cameroon and northern AngolaBeilschmiedia laotica – Laos and VietnamBeilschmiedia latifolia – Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and northwestern VenezuelaBeilschmiedia lebrunii – Democratic Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia ledermannii – northeastern New GuineaBeilschmiedia letouzeyi – Cameroon and Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia linharensis – eastern Brazil Beilschmiedia linocieroides – China Beilschmiedia longipetiolata – Hainan and VietnamBeilschmiedia longifolia – northeastern New GuineaBeilschmiedia louisii – Cameroon and Democratic Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia lucidula – eastern Nepal through eastern India, Bangladesh, Indochina, and MalesiaBeilschmiedia lumutensis – Cambodia and Peninsular MalaysiaBeilschmiedia macrocarpa – southern VietnamBeilschmiedia macrophylla – MyanmarBeilschmiedia macropoda – HainanBeilschmiedia madagascariensis – eastern and southeastern MadagascarBeilschmiedia madang – Borneo, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, and JavaBeilschmiedia maingayi – Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, BorneoBeilschmiedia manantlanensis – western Mexico Beilschmiedia mannii – western and central AfricaBeilschmiedia mannioides – Gabon and Democratic Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia mayumbensis – Democratic Republic of the Congo and Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia membranacea – Peninsular Thailand and Peninsular MalaysiaBeilschmiedia membranifolia – CameroonBeilschmiedia mexicana – Mexico and Belize; northern VenezuelaBeilschmiedia michelsonii – eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and RwandaBeilschmiedia micrantha – BorneoBeilschmiedia micranthopsis – VietnamBeilschmiedia microcarpa – BorneoBeilschmiedia microphylla – Madagascar Beilschmiedia miersii northern belloto – central ChileBeilschmiedia minutiflora – Cameroon, Gabon, and Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia montanoides – Borneo Beilschmiedia moratii – northern and south-central MadagascarBeilschmiedia morobensis – eastern New Guinea and Solomon IslandsBeilschmiedia muricata – China Beilschmiedia murutensis – Borneo Beilschmiedia myrciifolia – southern Nigeria and CameroonBeilschmiedia myrmecophila – New GuineaBeilschmiedia ndongensis – CameroonBeilschmiedia neocaledonica – east-central New CaledoniaBeilschmiedia neoletestui – GabonBeilschmiedia ningmingensis – China Beilschmiedia nitida – Cameroon and Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia novae-britanniae – Vietnam, New Guinea, and Bismarck ArchipelagoBeilschmiedia novoguineensis – northwestern New GuineaBeilschmiedia obconica – Hainan Beilschmiedia oblonga – Borneo Beilschmiedia oblongifolia – Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia obovatifoliosa – VietnamBeilschmiedia obscura – CameroonBeilschmiedia obscurinervia – China Beilschmiedia obtusifolia blush-walnut, hard bolly-gum – eastern AustraliaBeilschmiedia oligandra – northeastern Queensland Beilschmiedia oligantha – BorneoBeilschmiedia olivacea – Democratic Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia opposita – central MadagascarBeilschmiedia oreophila – central and southeastern New CaledoniaBeilschmiedia osacola – Costa RicaBeilschmiedia ovalioides – Mexico Beilschmiedia ovalis – Mexico Beilschmiedia ovoidea – China Beilschmiedia palembanica – Peninsular Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, and SumatraBeilschmiedia papyracea – CameroonBeilschmiedia pauciflora – China Beilschmiedia paulocordata – GabonBeilschmiedia pedicellata – east-central MadagascarBeilschmiedia pellegrinii – GabonBeilschmiedia penangiana – Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Peninsular MalaysiaBeilschmiedia pendula – Honduras to Ecuador, Venezuela, and the Caribbean IslandsBeilschmiedia peninsularis – northern QueenslandBeilschmiedia percoriacea – southern China, Vietnam, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, and SumatraBeilschmiedia pergamentacea – southern China, Vietnam, and ThailandBeilschmiedia phoebeopsis – BorneoBeilschmiedia pierreana – Cameroon and GabonBeilschmiedia pilosa – BorneoBeilschmiedia podagrica – New GuineaBeilschmiedia poilanei – central VietnamBeilschmiedia preussii – southwestern CameroonBeilschmiedia preussioides – Cameroon and GabonBeilschmiedia pubescens – northeastern New GuineaBeilschmiedia pullenii – New GuineaBeilschmiedia punctilimba – China Beilschmiedia purpurascens – China Beilschmiedia recurva – northeastern QueenslandBeilschmiedia reticulata – Borneo Beilschmiedia rigida – eastern BrazilBeilschmiedia riparia – western and southern Mexico; Honduras and NicaraguaBeilschmiedia rivularis – Sumatra and BorneoBeilschmiedia robertsonii – Myanmar and VietnamBeilschmiedia robusta – southern China and VietnamBeilschmiedia robynsiana – CameroonBeilschmiedia rosseliana – Papua New Guinea Beilschmiedia roxburghiana Beilschmiedia rufolanata – Riau Islands Beilschmiedia rufoperulata – SumatraBeilschmiedia rugosa – east-central MadagascarBeilschmiedia rwandensis – Burundi and RwandaBeilschmiedia sary – northeastern and east-central MadagascarBeilschmiedia schmitzii – Democratic Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia scintillans – MadagascarBeilschmiedia scortechinii – Peninsular Malaysia Beilschmiedia sericans – northeastern and east-central MadagascarBeilschmiedia sericea – northeastern New GuineaBeilschmiedia sessilifolia – CameroonBeilschmiedia shangsiensis – southern China Beilschmiedia sichourensis – southern China Beilschmiedia sikkimensis – SikkimBeilschmiedia staudtii – Cameroon and GabonBeilschmiedia steyermarkii – Mexico and GuatemalaBeilschmiedia stricta – southeastern Brazil Beilschmiedia sulcata – Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, northwestern Venezuela, and Costa RicaBeilschmiedia superba – VietnamBeilschmiedia supraglandulosa – southeastern ChinaBeilschmiedia talbotiae – southern Nigeria to CameroonBeilschmiedia tarairi taraire – New Zealand North IslandBeilschmiedia taubertiana – southeastern BrazilBeilschmiedia tawa tawa – New ZealandBeilschmiedia tawaensis – Sumatra and BorneoBeilschmiedia tawaroa tawaroa – New Zealand North IslandBeilschmiedia telupidensis – Borneo Beilschmiedia thollonii – Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia tilaranensis – Costa Rica and PanamaBeilschmiedia tirunelvelica – India Beilschmiedia tooram – northeastern QueenslandBeilschmiedia tovarensis – Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Venezuela, and Trinidad Beilschmiedia triplinervis – northeastern New GuineaBeilschmiedia troupinii – Burundi and RwandaBeilschmiedia tsangii – southern China, northern Vietnam, Hainan, and TaiwanBeilschmiedia tungfangensis – southwestern HainanBeilschmiedia ugandensis – South Sudan to Tanzania and ZambiaBeilschmiedia variabilis – Democratic Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia velutina – northern and eastern MadagascarBeilschmiedia vermoesenii – northwestern Democratic Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia versicolor – Cameroon, Gabon, and Democratic Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia vestita – Brazil Beilschmiedia vidalii – northern and Central VietnamBeilschmiedia villosa – northern and northeastern ThailandBeilschmiedia vohemarensis – MadagascarBeilschmiedia volckii – northeastern QueenslandBeilschmiedia wallichiana – Peninsular Thailand and Peninsular MalaysiaBeilschmiedia wangii – southern China and VietnamBeilschmiedia weii – China Beilschmiedia wieringae – northern and eastern BorneoBeilschmiedia wightii – southern IndiaBeilschmiedia wilczekii – CameroonBeilschmiedia xizangensis – southeastern TibetBeilschmiedia yangambiensis – Gabon and Democratic Republic of the CongoBeilschmiedia yunnanensis – southern China and VietnamBeilschmiedia zahnii – CameroonBeilschmiedia zapoteoides – Mexico Beilschmiedia zenkeri – central AfricaBeilschmiedia zeylanica – Sri Lanka