Goniocheton arborescens


Goniocheton arborescens, commonly known in Australia as Mossman mahogany, is a small tree in the mahogany family Meliaceae. It is native to rainforests of Malesia, Papuasia, Queensland and nearby islands.

Description

The Mossman mahogany usually grows to around high, occasionally to, but it may flower and fruit when only high. The trunk can reach a diameter of up to, and may be fluted or possess buttresses up to tall. It has bark that is grey-brown, smooth or with mild cracking, and which bears large conspicuous lenticels. The leafy twigs are also grey-brown and lenticellate.
The compound leaves are arranged in whorls or spirals and are pinnate with 5 to 9 leaflets, usually with a terminal leaflet. The petioles are glabrous, about long, and swollen at the junction with the twig. The leaves have 5 to 9 glabrous leaflets which are dark green above and lighter below, and measure up to. The proximal leaflets are the smallest, with successive leaflets getting larger, and the terminal leaflet is the largest.
The inflorescence is an axillary thyrse measuring up to long which is covered in minute tawny hairs. The sweetly scented flowers measure around, and are creamy-green to white with usually 5 petals up to. A staminal tube rises from the base of the petals, and has 10 anthers about long inserted close to the distal end.
The fruits are slightly flattened globular capsules up to in diameter. They are glabrous, bright pink-red in colour and usually contains 5 seeds.

Taxonomy

This species was originally described as Goniocheton arborescens in 1825 by the German-Dutch botanist Carl Ludwig Blume, but was transferred to the genus Dysoxylum in 1868 by the Dutch botanist Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel. It was published in his paper Monographia Meliacearum Archipelagi Indici, in Annales Musei Botanici Lugduno-Batavi Vol 4 p.24 In 2021 a wide ranging review of Dysoxylum found that the genus was polyphyletic (i.e. the most recent ancestor of the members was not the same for all members. As a result this species was placed back in its original genus Goniocheton.

Etymology

The species epithet is from the Latin word arborescens, meaning 'tree-like', which may be a reference to its relatively small stature.

Ecology

This tree is the host for larvae of the orange emperor butterfly.

Cultivation and uses

The Australian botanist David L. Jones wrote in his 1986 book Rainforest Plants of Australia that this species "has good potential as a garden plant and is of manageable dimensions".

Distribution and habitat

Goniocheton arborescens is native to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Taiwan, Malaysia, Borneo, Indonesia, New Guinea the Bismark Archipelago, Queensland, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. It is a common species, growing in a variety of rainforest habitats from sea-level to elevation.

Conservation

This species is listed by Queensland's Department of Environment, Science and Innovation as least concern., it has not been assessed by the IUCN.