Hairy psychotria facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hairy psychotria |
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| leaves of Psychotria loniceroides | |
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Psychotria
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P. loniceroides
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| Binomial name | |
| Psychotria loniceroides Sieber ex DC.
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The Hairy Psychotria (scientific name: Psychotria loniceroides) is a cool plant that grows naturally in the forests of eastern Australia. You can find it in places where rainforests meet eucalyptus forests, and also under the taller trees in different kinds of rainforests.
This plant grows all the way from Bega in southeastern New South Wales up to Bamaga in far northeastern Queensland. The name Psychotria comes from a Greek word meaning "life," hinting that some plants in this group have healing properties. The second part of its name, loniceroides, means its leaves look a bit like those of the Honeysuckle plant.
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About the Hairy Psychotria
The Hairy Psychotria can be a shrub or a small tree. It can grow up to 5 meters (about 16 feet) tall, with a trunk about 10 centimeters (4 inches) wide. Its trunk often looks a bit bent and has bumps. The bark is dark brown and fairly smooth, but it has some wrinkles. The smaller branches are quite thick and covered in tiny hairs.
Leaves of the Hairy Psychotria
The leaves grow in pairs on opposite sides of the stem. They are usually egg-shaped, but can also be oblong or elliptical, and they have a short, sudden tip. Each leaf is typically 6 to 10 centimeters (2.4 to 4 inches) long and 1.5 to 5 centimeters (0.6 to 2 inches) wide. The leaf stalk, which connects the leaf to the stem, is 5 to 15 millimeters (0.2 to 0.6 inches) long.
The leaves feel soft because they are covered in fine hairs. The top side is a medium to light green, while the underside is a paler green. The veins on the leaves are also hairy and stick out clearly on the underside.
Flowers and Fruit
The Hairy Psychotria produces clusters of white flowers. These flowers grow on loose, branching stems and appear from December to March.
After the flowers, the plant grows small, round fruits. These fruits ripen between February and September. They are yellow or creamy in color and about 6 millimeters (0.24 inches) across. Each fruit is a type of drupe, which means it has a fleshy outer part and a hard pit inside. Inside this pit is a single, oval-shaped seed with ridges.
The fruit of the Hairy Psychotria is a food source for birds like the green catbird. If you try to grow new plants from fresh seeds, it can take a while. Seeds usually start to sprout after about four months. After five months, about 64% of the seeds might have grown into seedlings. Growing new plants from cuttings (pieces of the stem) is not very successful.
While the fruit is reported to be edible for humans, it tastes very bad if it's not ripe and can even make your throat feel irritated.
More Information
- PlantNET - The Plant Information Network System of Botanic Gardens Trust, Sydney, Australia - 17 August 2009. [1]
