Brown birch, flintwood
Scolopia braunii, Fam. Flacourtiaceae
Scolopia braunii is a small to medium tree to 10m, with dense, attractive foliage, often found as a shrub.
Weed Category: | |
Weed: | No |
Form or habit: | Small tree, Med tree |
Family: | Flacourtiaceae |
Leaf: | Simple Alternate Juvenile leaves are often diamond shaped with 2-6 angled margins (blunt teeth either side); adult leaves broadly egg-shaped, which may or may not have angled margins. They are thick textured, glossy and new growth is pink or browning red. |
Flower conspicuous: | Inconspicuous |
Flower colour: |
White, Cream |
Flower description: | Small, sweetly fragrant white or cream flowers on short terminal or axillary panicles. |
Fruit conspicuous: | Conspicuous |
Fruit colour: |
Black, Orange, Yellow, Red |
Fruit: | |
Fruit description: | Globular berries about 1cm across with a persistent hooked style. Ranging from yellow, orange, red then black when ripe. |
Habitat: | Beach scrub, gallery (riverine or riparian) forest, littoral rainforest, rainforest, wetland, vine thicket. |
Distribution | North-eastern Qld to north-eastern N.S.W. |
Food source for: | Fruit is eaten by the topknot pigeon, Lewin’s honeyeater, figbirds and others. The foliage is food for larvae of the bronze flat and bordered rustic butterflies and a number of moths. |
Toxicity: | No toxicity known |
Origin: | Australia |
Notes: | Propagate from fresh seed or cuttings. Very attractive foliage. Adaptable to a wide variety of soils. good screening plant as the foliage is retained to ground level. |
Information sources: | Townsend K. & the Society for Growing Australian Plant Townsville Branch Inc. (1994) Across the Top: Gardening with Australian Plants in the tropics. |