Carnarvonia araliifolia
Carnarvonia araliifolia, commonly known as the red oak, red silky oak, Caledonian oak or elephant's foot, is the sole species in the genus Carnarvonia, a member of the Proteaceae family. It is endemic to the rainforests of northeastern Queensland, Australia.
Description
The red oak is a large tree growing to or more in height, and it may have small rounded buttress roots. These may give the lower trunk the appearance of an elephant's foot, and are the source of one of the common names for the species. The trunk bears numerous, closely spaced small lenticels.The large compound leaves are divided pedately and are highly variable, having anything from 3 to 20 leaflets. They range in size from long, including the petiole. The leaves are arranged alternately on the branches.
The inflorescence is a panicle, produced either terminally, in the leaf axils, or directly from the branches or trunk. They develop between November and May.
The fruit is a woody follicle measuring up to long by wide, with the pedicel attached at one side. They contain one or two winged seeds up to long.
Taxonomy
This species was first described by the German-born Australian botanist Ferdinand von Mueller, from a specimen collected by John Dallachy in the forested mountains around Rockingham Bay in Queensland. He published the description in volume 6 of his massive work Fragmenta phytographiæ Australiæ in 1867.In 1995 the Australian botanist Bernard Hyland described a new variety of the species, C. a. var. montana, which was published in Flora of Australia volume 16. His description was based on a specimen he collected himself in 1972.
The species has been placed in the subfamily Grevilleoideae because its cotyledons have auricles, which is unique to the subfamily.