Common name: Actephila
Actephila lindleyi (Steud.) Airy Shaw APNI* Synonyms: Actephila mooreana Baill. APNI*
Description: Shrub or slender tree to 6 m high, glabrous.
Leaves oblong to oblanceolate or elliptic, 3–17 cm long, 2.5–4 cm wide, tip acute to rounded, often undulate, glabrous. Petiole 2–24 mm long. Stipules 1–1.7 mm long.
Flowers in axillary clusters. Male flowers: pedicel 1.5–5 mm long, sepals 5, petals absent or 1–5 present, stamens 4 or 5. Female flowers: pedicel 2–14 mm long, sepals 5, petals absent or 1–3 present, styles 3.
Capsule globose, 9–12 mm long. Seeds olive green.
Distribution and occurrence: found in subtropical and dry rainforest, coastal areas north from Kiama. Grows in a variety of substrates derived from andesites, basalts or metamorphics at altitudes 40-500 m.
NSW subdivisions: NC, CC
Other Australian states: Qld
This species as described by Airy Shaw was extraordinarily variable and collections identified as this species are now included under A. grandifolia (in New South Wales), A. flavescens, A. traceyi, A. venusta and A. vernicosa in Queensland. Actephila was formerly included in Euphorbiaceae.
Text by T.A. James & G.J. Harden, Flora of NSW 1 (1990); edited 2 August 2007 by C. Herscovitch; edited Louisa Murray July 2016.
Taxon concept: Austrobaileya 7(1): 57-98 (2005)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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