Colubrina pedunculata

Colubrina pedunculata is a shrub in the family Rhamnaceae. It is endemic to Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the north-eastern Indian Ocean. Its specific epithet comes from the Latin pedunculatus, referring to the long and conspicuous peduncle of the inflorescence.[2]

Colubrina pedunculata
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rhamnaceae
Genus: Colubrina
Species:
C. pedunculata
Binomial name
Colubrina pedunculata

Description

Colubrina pedunculata is a thorny, sometimes straggling, shrub or small tree. Its thorns are 5–20 mm long. Its leaves are alternate, narrowly elliptic, and deciduous after fruiting. It bears many yellow-green flowers, 5–6 mm across and clustered. The fruit is about 7 mm long.[2]

Distribution and habitat

Found only on Christmas Island, the plant is common on the northern and north-eastern terraces, in areas of poor, dry soil, among limestone pinnacles and scree, and in cliff edge thickets.[2]

Relationships

Since it is closely related to the widespread C. asiatica (L.) Brongn., the fruit of which is used as a fish toxin, and the leaves of which are used medicinally to treat skin diseases, similar chemical or pharmacological properties may be expected in C. pedunculata.[2]

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References

Notes
  1. pp.175 in: Andrews et al. (1900).
  2. Flora of Australia Online.

Sources
  • Andrews, Charles W.; et al. (1900). Monograph of Christmas Island. London: British Museum (Natural History).
  • "Colubrina pedunculata Baker f." Flora of Australia Online. Australian Biological Resources Study. 1993. Retrieved 2010-11-25.


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