Trochocarpa laurina facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Trochocarpa laurina |
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| Trochocarpa laurina at Elvina Bay, Australia | |
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Trochocarpa
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| Species: |
laurina
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Trochocarpa laurina is a special kind of shrub or small tree found in Australia. It grows along the coast, from southern New South Wales all the way up to the Wet Tropics in Queensland. This plant loves wet places! For example, it thrives on Mount Bellenden Ker, where it rains a lot – about 8,312 millimeters every year. It needs at least 1,200 millimeters of rain annually to grow well.
You can find Trochocarpa laurina in different types of rainforests and also in very wet sclerophyll forests. In 1990, the biggest known Trochocarpa laurina was found in Eastwood, a suburb of Sydney. It was an amazing 13.4 meters (about 44 feet) tall! This plant has many common names, like tree heath, axebreaker, sandberry, wheel-fruit, waddy wood, laurel heath, and turkey bush.
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What Does Trochocarpa Laurina Look Like?
This plant is usually a small tree or a shrub. It has a unique trunk that feels corky, and its lower branches are often heavy and spread out. The trunk can be a bit crooked and grow up to 45 centimeters (about 18 inches) wide. It often has a slightly wider base. Most of these trees are around 4 meters (about 13 feet) tall.
Leaves and Flowers
The leaves of Trochocarpa laurina grow in groups at the ends of the branches. They are smooth, without any teeth along the edges, and shaped like an oval. Each leaf is about 5 to 7 centimeters (2 to 3 inches) long and has a pointed tip. Both sides of the leaf are glossy green, but the underside is a bit lighter. You can see five to seven veins running parallel along the leaf. When new leaves appear, they are a beautiful dark pink or red color!
White flowers can be seen all year round, either by themselves or on spikes that are 2 to 3 centimeters (about 1 inch) long. They are most common in June and July.
Fruit and Seeds
The fruit of Trochocarpa laurina is a small, flat drupe. It changes from purple to black as it ripens, which happens between March and October. Inside the fruit, there's a hard, bony part with ten ribs. Each of these ten sections holds a tiny seed.
Getting the seeds to grow is quite a challenge! It can take a very long time, sometimes two to four years, for the first seedling to pop up. Birds like the Lewin's honeyeater and the pied currawong enjoy eating these fruits.
How Trochocarpa Laurina Interacts with Nature
This plant is a host for a special kind of parasitic plant called Korthasella rubra, also known as "korthal mistletoe." It also provides a home for other plants that grow on it, like bird's-nest ferns and elk horn ferns. These are called epiphytes.
Aboriginal Australians used the wood from Trochocarpa laurina to make waddies, which are traditional wooden clubs. The timber of this tree is very hard and has a lovely pattern, making it quite attractive.
See also
In Spanish: Trochocarpa laurina para niños
