Trema tomentosa var. viridis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Trema tomentosa var. viridis |
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| Poison peach at Elvina Bay, Australia | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Cannabaceae |
| Genus: | Trema |
| Species: | |
| Varietas: |
T. t. var. viridis
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| Trinomial name | |
| Trema tomentosa var. viridis Planch. & Hewson
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| Synonyms | |
The Trema tomentosa var. viridis is a type of forest plant. It's often called poison peach, native peach, or peach-leaved poison bush.
This plant grows in many places. In Australia, you can find it from Twofold Bay in New South Wales all the way up to northern Queensland. It also grows in New Guinea and West Papua (Indonesia). Sadly, it used to grow near Mallacoota in Victoria, but it's now thought to be gone from that state.
People who work to regrow rainforests really like the poison peach. It grows quickly, provides shelter and shade, and helps other young plants grow. Birds also love this plant. You can find it in areas where rainforests are regrowing, in open parts of rainforests, next to forest roads, and in open forest areas.
What Does It Look Like?
This plant can be a shrub or a small tree. It can grow up to 8 meters (about 26 feet) tall. Its main stem can be as wide as 15 centimeters (about 6 inches).
Its bark is smooth and grey. It has small dots called lenticels. These dots are arranged in lines, both up-and-down and side-to-side. The smaller branches are grey or fawn-colored and also have these lenticels.
Leaves
The leaves grow in an alternating pattern along the stem. Their edges have small teeth. Each leaf is usually 4 to 9 centimeters (about 1.5 to 3.5 inches) long. They are shaped like an oval with a long, pointed tip. The leaf stalk, which connects the leaf to the branch, is 6 to 12 millimeters long.
You can easily see the veins on both sides of the leaves. They are even clearer on the underside, especially the three main side veins. The leaves look a bit like those of the Lantana camara plant, which is a common weed.
Flowers and Fruit
The plant has small, greenish flowers. They grow in small groups called cymes. You can see these flowers all year round. However, they are most common between December and March.
The fruit is a tiny, black, round fruit called a drupe. It's only 2 to 6 millimeters (less than a quarter inch) wide. Inside, it has one small black seed. The fruit ripens between February and August. Many different birds eat these fruits. Some of these birds include the brown cuckoo-dove, Australasian figbird, Lewin's honeyeater, and olive-backed oriole.
It's not hard to grow new plants from fresh seeds or from cuttings.
See also
In Spanish: Trema tomentosa var. viridis para niños
