Plant of the Month: Not Just a Suburb in Maitland
We’ve previously discussed plants named after locations but there’s also plenty of locations named after plants, there’s Geebung in Bris-Vegas, Glossodia in Sydney, Bungwahl up on Myall Lake and locally we have Bolwarra near Maitland.
Apart from being a suburb of Maitland, Bolwarra is one of the common names of Eupomatia laurina. The Bolwarra is one of only three members* of the Eupomatiaceae botanical family, the others being Eupomatia barbata from north-east Queensland and E. bennettii from north-east NSW and southern Queensland. The Eupomatiaceae family is one of the more primitive families of flowering plants having evolved in the Late Cretaceous Period (100-66 Mya). (*Some sources give only 2 members, some give 5.)
The Bolwarra (Eupomatia laurina) is the most widespread of the Eupomatiaceae family being found in warm Rainforest and moist Eucalypt forest from Victoria through to New Guinea. In the Hunter Region it is found in rainforest areas including Ash Island, Seal Rocks and inland to Cedar Brush Nature Reserve west of Scone. Locations shown on the Australian Virtual Herbarium show them occurring in the Coolah Tops National Park but this doesn’t match written locations.
Image: Eupomatia laurina R.Br. : Eupomatiaceae
D.Mackay ©The Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust
The Bolwarra is a shrub or small tree, often with black branchlets (particularly when dried), the leaves are oblong to elliptic, 7-12 cm long, 2-5 cm wide. Upper surface of the leaf is shiny with a short, 3mm long, petiole. Flowers are axillary, single or paired around 20mm diameter, white to cream with stamens 8-10mm long, the flower “resembles a daisy with 3 outer rows of ray like fertile stamens and numerous inner rows of petaloid infertile stamens” (Floyd A.G, 1989. Rainforest Trees of Mainland South-eastern Australia). Fruits are urn shaped, around 20mm diameter and edible.
Eupomatia laurina R.Br. Eupomatiaceae
Photo T.M. Tame ©The Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust
Fresh seed germinates readily within 3-5 weeks.
The Bolwarra is another one of the species to be planted for our Hunter Rainforest Revival Project.