Denhamia silvestris


Denhamia silvestris is a shrub or small tree growing from Picton, New South Wales to Kroombit Tops, near Gladstone, Queensland. It occurs in dry rainforest, eucalyptus and rainforest ecotone areas. Common names include narrow leaved orangebark, orange bush and orange bark.

Description

Commonly seen as a densely dark green shrub two metres tall, though it can occasionally attain heights of with a trunk diameter of. The trunk is crooked and misshapen but without buttresses. Outer bark is greyish brown or grey, fairly smooth but with lenticels. The other part of live bark is green, brown and reddish. The exposed bark gives the common name "orange bark".
Leaves are long, wide, narrow lanceolate to ovate in shape. Leaf edges are curved over, sometimes with toothed edges, other times entire. The leaf tip is sometimes curved. The leaf base slowly tapers away with a thin beginning of the leaf. Leaf stalks are long. Leaf venation is evident on both sides, with five to eight pairs of lateral veins. Leaflets are lenticellate, slender and smooth, and dark reddish brown or grey. New shoots are downy.

Flowers & fruit

Pale green flowers form on racemes from the leaf axils, either singly, or in twos or threes. Flowering usually occurs from October to January, though sometimes as late as April. The fruit is an orange capsule, roundish in shape, and in diameter. The capsule splits in two, with one to four glossy brown seeds, enclosed in an orange fleshy aril. Seeds are egg shaped, long. Fruit matures from February to May. Seed germination is quite reliable, with germination complete after 42 days.