Noahdendron nicholasii.
Family Hamamelidaceae.
A rare endemic plant found around Noah Creek in northern Queensland.
A tree up to 10 m high with stellate hairs.
Leaves, alternately arranged in 2 ranks, are up to 28 cm long and 10 cm wide.
They have a petiole up to 1.5 cm long and oblong to elliptic blades with pointed tips.
The young leaves are pink to a deep red.
It has paired, ovate, leaf-like stipules that are unusually large for this family.
They can be up to 2 or 3 cm long and 1 cm wide with a prominent midrib.
They may be persistent or fall off leaving a scar on the stem.
The drooping inflorescences are terminal spikes with densely packed flowers.
The inflorescence stalk, up to 5 cm long, has a bract up to 1 cm long at the base.
The flower bearing area is up to 7 cm long.
The individual flowers have no stalks but have bracteoles about 4 mm long.
The calyx has 5 ovate to triangular sepals that are free of each other.
They are only 3 mm long and densely covered in reddish stellate hairs.
There are 5 narrow pink, red or purple petals around 5 mm long that are tightly coiled.
There are 5 red stamens with a 1 mm long curved appendage on the anthers.
Anthers have 2 pollen sacs and one valve.
The ovary is superior or partly inferior with hairs on the upper part.
It has 2 locules each with 3 ovules only one of which usually develops into a seed.
There are 2 styles only 1 mm long holding the stigmas.
The 1 cm woody fruit capsules are covered in reddish stellate hairs.
J.F.
