Xanthophyllum fragrans
Xanthophyllum fragrans, commonly known as fragrant boxwood, is an evergreen plant in the family Polygalaceae found only in the Wet Tropics bioregion of Queensland, Australia.
Description
Xanthophyllum fragrans is a tree growing up to about tall, and it may produce buttress roots. The leaves are simple, arranged alternately and attached to the twigs by petioles about long; they are glossy dark green above and paler green below, and measure up to long by wide.The inflorescences are produced either terminally or in the, and they take the form of a raceme about long. The flowers are very fragrant and quite large with five cream to yellow petals up to long and wide. The stamens are about long with anthers about long; the is about long, the is capitate.
The orange fruit is a berry measuring about long and wide. They contain 8 or more seeds measuring about by, which are completely enclosed in a cream aril.
Phenology
Flowering occurs from September to October, and fruit ripen in December and January.Taxonomy
This species was first described by the Australian botanist Cyril Tenison White in his paper titled Contributions to the Queensland Flora, No. 6, which was read to the Royal Society of Queensland in November 1938. It was subsequently published in the Society's journal Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland in 1939.Distribution and habitat
Xanthophyllum fragrans has a restricted distribution within Queensland's Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, from near Cape Tribulation to the Kuranda National Park. It grows in well developed rainforest at altitudes from near sea level up to.It has a total Area of Occupancy of just.