Beilschmiedia obtusifolia facts for kids
Beilschmiedia obtusifolia is a special tree that grows in the rainforests of eastern Australia. It's a type of Laurel tree, and you can find it from the Manning River in New South Wales all the way up to the Daintree River in Queensland. This tree usually likes to grow in places with rich soil, like where there's basalt rock, but sometimes it can also be found near the sea. People often call it the blush walnut, hard bolly gum, or nut wood.
Quick facts for kids Beilschmiedia obtusifolia |
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| large tree at Tooloom scrub | |
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| Blush walnut - juvenile | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Beilschmiedia
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| Species: |
obtusifolia
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What Does It Look Like?
The blush walnut is a medium to large tree. Its trunk is usually brown or creamy and has lines that go up and down. You might also see small, raised bumps on the trunk. Older trees might have a wider base, like a flared skirt.
Leaves and Branches
The young branches and stems of the tree are a bit hairy. The leaves are shaped like an oval or a spear, and they grow one after another along the stem. They don't have jagged edges. Each leaf is about 8 to 10 centimeters long and 2 to 4 centimeters wide. The tip of the leaf is usually blunt or sometimes has a small notch. The stalks that hold the leaves are about 5 millimeters long. You can easily see the veins on both sides of the leaves, especially the main vein in the middle, which is raised.
Flowers and Fruit
From October to November, cream-colored flowers grow in clusters called panicles. These flowers don't smell very nice! After the flowers, the tree grows fruit, which ripens from December to July. The fruit is black and shaped like an egg. It's a type of drupe, meaning it has a fleshy outside and a hard pit inside. The fruit also has a green, oily part around the seed that smells good. Each fruit is about 20 to 30 millimeters long and has one seed inside.
To help the seeds grow, it's best to remove the fleshy green part. The seeds grow slowly, but they are usually reliable.
Who Eats the Fruit?
Many different birds love to eat the fruit of the blush walnut. Some of these birds include the rose-crowned fruit dove, the topknot pigeon, the green catbird, and the wompoo fruit dove.
See Also
In Spanish: Beilschmiedia obtusifolia para niños
