Claoxylon australe facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Claoxylon australe |
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| Brittlewood growing in Macquarie Pass National Park, Australia | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Claoxylon
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| Species: |
australe
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The Claoxylon australe, also known as brittlewood, is a common shrub or small tree found in rainforests. It grows in the understorey, which means it lives under the taller trees. You can find brittlewood in many types of rainforests across eastern Australia. Its natural home stretches from Eden in southern New South Wales all the way up to Bowen in tropical Queensland.
What Brittlewood Looks Like
Brittlewood can grow as a shrub or a small tree. It can reach up to 9 metres (about 30 feet) tall. Its trunk can be up to 30 centimetres (about 12 inches) wide. The trunk is usually round, but older trees might have a slightly wider base.
The bark is a brownish-grey colour. It's mostly smooth, but you might see some vertical bumps or other rough spots. The younger branches are often hairy and green. As they get older, they turn a fawn colour and have small dots called lenticels, which help the plant breathe.
Leaves and Flowers
Brittlewood leaves grow one after another along the stem. They are simple leaves, meaning each leaf is a single blade. Their edges are usually toothed in an uneven way. The leaves are shaped like an oval or an ellipse. They are typically 5 to 12 centimetres (2 to 5 inches) long. The tip of the leaf is usually blunt, not pointy.
The leaf stalks, which connect the leaf to the stem, are 1 to 4 centimetres (0.4 to 1.6 inches) long. Often, there are two small glands at the very top of the leaf stalk. The main vein in the middle of the leaf is lighter in colour than the rest of the leaf. You can see the veins more clearly on the underside of the leaf.
Greenish flowers appear on long stalks called racemes. This happens from October to November. Brittlewood plants have separate male and female flowers. This means that male flowers grow on one plant, and female flowers grow on a different plant. This is called being dioecious.
Fruit and Seeds
The fruit of the brittlewood tree ripens between January and March. It's a purple-black capsule, which is a dry fruit that splits open when it's ripe. The fruit is round, about 6 millimetres (0.24 inches) across.
Inside each fruit, there are three sections, or lobes. Each lobe contains one red, bumpy seed. The fruit is a tasty snack for some birds. The brown cuckoo-dove and the Australian king parrot are known to eat brittlewood fruit.
Images for kids
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A friendly robot illustration.
