White quandong facts for kids

The White Quandong, also known as Elaeocarpus foveolatus, is a special kind of flowering tree. It belongs to the Elaeocarpaceae plant family. This tree is found only in Queensland, Australia.

The White Quandong is a medium-sized tree. It sometimes has large, wide roots at the bottom of its trunk, which look like supports. Its leaves can be different shapes and have edges that look like tiny saw teeth. The flowers have five petals, often with small points or teeth at their tips. The fruit of this tree is shaped like an oval.

What Does It Look Like?

The White Quandong tree can grow quite tall, sometimes up to 33 feet (10 meters). Some of these trees have special roots called buttress roots. These roots are wide and flat at the base of the trunk, helping the tree stay strong.

Its leaves can be different shapes, but they are often egg-shaped. They are usually between 1.8 to 4 inches (45–100 mm) long and 0.6 to 1.4 inches (15–35 mm) wide. The leaves grow on a short, hairy stalk called a petiole, which is about 0.16 to 0.6 inches (4–15 mm) long. The edges of the leaves are often wavy and have small teeth.

The flowers of the White Quandong grow in groups of four to twelve. Each flower has five oval-shaped parts called sepals, which are about 0.18 inches (4.5 mm) long. It also has five petals that are about 0.18 to 0.28 inches (4.5–7 mm) long. These petals often have three to five small points at their tips. Each flower has more than fifty stamens, which are the parts that make pollen. The part of the flower that holds the seeds, called the ovary, is hairy.

White Quandong trees usually flower from December to January. Their fruit appears from June to October. The fruit is an oval-shaped drupe, which is a type of fruit with a hard pit inside, like a peach. It can be up to 0.6 inches (16 mm) long and 0.5 inches (13 mm) wide.

How It Got Its Name

The scientific name for the White Quandong is Elaeocarpus foveolatus. It was first officially described in 1866 by a scientist named Ferdinand von Mueller. He wrote about it in a book called Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae. The plants he studied were collected by John Dallachy near Rockingham Bay.

The second part of its scientific name, foveolatus, is a Latin word. It means "minutely pitted," which might refer to a small feature on the plant.

Where Does It Live?

The White Quandong tree is special because it is endemic to Queensland. This means it grows naturally only in Queensland, Australia, and nowhere else in the world.

You can find these trees in many parts of northern and central-eastern Queensland. They grow in rainforests, sometimes at high places, up to 3,900 feet (1,200 meters) above sea level.

Is It Safe?

The Queensland Government has a list of plants and animals and how safe they are. The White Quandong is listed as being of "least concern" under the Nature Conservation Act 1992. This means that there are plenty of these trees, and they are not currently at risk of disappearing.