Symplocos puberula is a species of plant in the family Symplocaceae native to northeastern Queensland, Australia, that was first described in 1982. It is a small rainforest tree and is rated as a least-concern species.
Description Symplocos puberula is a tree up to tall with new growth (i.e. covered in fine soft hairs). The leaves are stiff, widest near the apex and tapered at the base (obovate), and they have a short "". They measure up to long and wide, and have 6–12 pairs of lateral veins which curve towards the leaf tip and connect to the next vein. The leaf edges are finely toothed in the distal half of the leaf blade.
The inflorescence measures up to long and takes the form of a or a . The white flowers are small – the sepals are about long and the petals about long. They have 50 to 70 stamens measuring up to long, and the style is about long. The fruit is a dark blue or black drupe with a persistent calyx at the tip. It measures about long and wide.
Distribution and habitat This species can be found from the McIlwraith Range near Cooktown, south along the east coast to the area around Eungella. It inhabits well developed rainforest on metamorphic and basalt soils.
Taxonomy It was first described as Symplocos cochinchinensis var. pilosiuscula by botanist Hans Peter Nooteboom in 1981, and published in the following year. It was later raised to species status by Laurence Woodward Jessup, who disagreed with Nooteboom's treatment of the genus which created many subspecies and varieties. Jessup published his own treatment in the journal Austrobaileya in 2011.
Conservation This species is listed as least concern in the Queensland Government's WildNet database. No explanation is provided for the assessment. , it has not been assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
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References
External links
Map of herbarium collections of this species at the Australasian Virtual Herbarium Observations of this species on iNaturalist Images of this species on Flickriver.com