Cryptocarya meisneriana
Cryptocarya meisneriana, commonly known as northern rivers laurel, thick-leaved cryptocarya, Meisner's laurel or thick-leaved laurel, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lauraceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a tree or shrub with lance-shaped leaves, creamy and pale green, perfumed flowers, and elliptic to oval black drupes.
Its habitat is rainforest on poorer sedimentary soils. The natural range of distribution is from the Wangat River in the Barrington Tops to the Logan River in southeastern Queensland. This tree was named after Carl Meissner, a Swiss botanist.
Description
Cryptocarya meisneriana is a tree or shrub that typically grows to a height of up to, its stems not buttressed. Its leaves are lance-shaped, long, wide, green and more or less glaucous, on a petiole long. The flowers are arranged in small panicles or racemes in leaf axils about the same length as the petioles. They are cream to pale green and pleasantly perfumed. The perianth tube is long, wide. The outer anthers are long and wide, the inner anthers long and wide. Flowering occurs from October to January, and the fruit is an elliptical to oval black drupe, long and about wide.
Taxonomy
Cryptocarya meisneriana was first formally described in 1976 by David Gamman Frodin in the journal Telopea from specimens collected near the Hastings River near Port Macquarie by Hermann Beckler.
Distribution and habitat
This species of Cryptocarya grows in rainforest on coastal ranges from sea level to an altitude of from Springbrook in southern Queensland to Gloucester in New South Wales.
Conservation status
Cryptocarya meisneriana is listed as of "least concern" by the Queensland Government Department of Education and Science.