Pilidiostigma tropicum, commonly known as apricot myrtle, is a species of plant in the clove and eucalyptus family Myrtaceae. It is native to the Wet Tropics bioregion of Queensland, Australia, and was first described in 1955. It has a conservation status of least concern.
Description Pilidiostigma tropicum is a tree growing up to about tall with a trunk up to diameter. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs on the twigs and measure up to long and wide. They are attached to the twigs on petioles which are channelled on the top, and the fine margins of the channel are sinuous and red in colour. The leaves have two, sometimes three, (veins that run just inside and parallel to the leaf margin).
Flowers are borne on small racemes of two to six flowers, produced in the . The is about long and has five lobes. The five white petals are concave and almost circular in shape, about in diameter. There are numerous stamens; the ovary has two locules (chambers) with about seven ovules each, and the stigma is large and pink.
The fruit is a berry in botanical terms – it is black or purple in colour and is about long and wide. It contains up to eight seeds which are about long.
Taxonomy This species was described by botanist Lindsay Stuart Smith in 1955, and published in 1956. The type specimen was collected in 1929 near Glen Allyn on the Atherton Tableland, Queensland.
Distribution and habitat Pilidiostigma tropicum grows in rainforest as an understory tree, occurring on east coastal and sub-coastal parts of Queensland from just north of Cape Tribulation to just north of Townsville. It is widespread on the Atherton Tableland. The altitudinal range is from sea level to about .
Conservation This species is listed as least concern under the Queensland Government's Nature Conservation Act. , it has not been assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
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