Billardiera cymosa

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Sweet apple-berry
In the Australian National Botanic Gardens
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Apiales
Family: Pittosporaceae
Genus: Billardiera
Species:
B. cymosa
Binomial name
Billardiera cymosa
F.Muell.[1]
Occurrence data from Australasian Virtual Herbarium
Habit

Billardiera cymosa, commonly known as sweet apple-berry or love fruit,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Pittosporaceae and is endemic to south-eastern continental Australia. It is usually a slender climber that has narrowly egg-shaped leaves and pale blue or pale purplish flowers arranged in groups of about five to twelve.

Description

Billardiera cymosa is usually a slender climber or twiner that has its new shoots softly-hairy, later glabrous and reddish-brown. The adult leaves are arranged alternately, narrowly egg-shaped to narrowly elliptic or almost linear, 30–65 mm (1.2–2.6 in) long and 6–13 mm (0.24–0.51 in) wide on a short petiole. The flowers are arranged in corymbs of about five to twelve with softly-hairy bracts and bracteoles but that fall off as the flowers open. The sepals are yellowish-green or brown, lance-shaped, 2–6 mm (0.079–0.236 in) long and the petals pale blue or pale purplish and 11–20 mm (0.43–0.79 in) long, forming a tube with spreading lobes. Flowering occurs from October to January and the mature fruit is a dark purple berry 12–15 mm (0.47–0.59 in) long containing many seeds.[2][3][4]

Taxonomy

Billardiera cymosa was first formally described in 1855 by Ferdinand von Mueller in Flora Australiensis in Transactions and Proceedings of the Victorian Institute for the Advancement of Science.[5][6] The specific epithet (cymosa) means "cymose".[7]

In 2004,

Michael Douglas Crisp and Ian Telford described two subspecies of B. cymosa in Australian Systematic Botany, and the names are accepted by the Australian Plant Census
:

  • Billardiera cymosa F.Muell. subsp. cymosa[8] has leaves 36–60 mm (1.4–2.4 in) long and 6–13 mm (0.24–0.51 in) wide, the sepals 2–3 mm (0.079–0.118 in) long, and the ovary silky hairy.[9][10]
  • Billardiera cymosa subsp. pseudocymosa (F.Muell. ex Klatt) L.W.Cayzer & Crisp, (previously known as Billardiera pseudocymosa F.Muell. ex Klatt[11] has leaves 30–50 mm (1.2–2.0 in) long and 3–6 mm (0.12–0.24 in) wide, the sepals 3–4 mm (0.12–0.16 in) long, and the ovary glabrous.[12][13]

Distribution and habitat

Sweet apple-berry grows in

Wimmera region of western Victoria.[9][10] Subspecies pseudocymosa mainly occurs on the Eyre Peninsula but also in parts of the Eyre Peninsula with subsp. cymosa, and on the northern plains of Victoria from Wyperfeld to Mildura.[12][13]

References

  1. ^ "Billardiera cymosa". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Billardiera cymosa". State Herbarium of South Australia. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  3. ^ "Billardiera cymosa". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  4. ^ Walsh, Neville G.; Albrecht, David E.; Stajsic, Val. "Billardiera cymosa". Royal Botnic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  5. ^ "Billardiera cymosa". APNI. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  6. ^ von Mueller, Ferdinand (1855). "Description of fifty new Australian plants, chiefly from the colony of Victoria". Transactions and Proceedings of the Victorian Institute for the Advancement of Science. 1: 29. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  7. ISBN 9780958034180
    .
  8. ^ "Billardiera cymosa subsp. cymosa". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Billardiera cymosa subsp. cymosa". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  10. ^ a b Messina, Andre; Stajsic, Val. "Billardiera cymosa subsp. cymosa". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  11. ^ "Billardiera cymosa subsp. pseudocymosa". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  12. ^ a b "Billardiera cymosa subsp. pseudocymosa". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  13. ^ a b Messina, Andre; Stajsic, Val. "Billardiera cymosa subsp. pseudocymosa". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
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