Beilschmiedia recurva, commonly known as khaki bark walnut or ivory walnut, is a species of plant in the family Lauraceae native to northeast Queensland, Australia. It was first described in 1989 and has a conservation status of least-concern. The fruit are eaten by various birds and mammals.
Description This is a tree growing up to tall and a trunk up to diameter. The bark is brown and larger trees are often buttressed. Leaves are shiny green on the upper surface and may be below; they are elliptical or oblong in shape with 7–12 pairs of lateral veins on either side of the midrib. They are generally about long and wide.
The flowers are cream to pale green in colour and quite small, with tepals about long. The fruits are ellipsoid in shape and black when ripe, and measure up to long and wide. The mesocarp and exocarp (flesh and skin, respectively) are both very thin and together are less than thick. Each fruit contains a single brown seed about long and wide.
Distribution and habitat Beilschmiedia recurva is widespread in northeast Queensland, from the ranges west of Cape Tribulation south to the Paluma Range National Park. It grows in rainforest on a variety of soil types, from above sea level to about .
Taxonomy This species was described in 1989 by Australian botanist Bernard Hyland. It was published in his 232-page paper A Revision of Lauraceae in Australia (excluding Cassytha).
Ecology The fruits are eaten by native rats, musky rat-kangaroos, and various birds including tooth-billed bowerbirds and fruit doves.
Uses The tree produces a timber that is marketed under the name "ivory walnut", but it is of poor quality and rarely used. It has an average density of and an above-ground life expectancy of only seven years.
Conservation , this species has been assessed to be of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and by the Queensland Government in its Wildnet database.
References
External links
Map of recorded sightings of this species at the Australasian Virtual Herbarium Observations of this species on iNaturalist Images of this species on Flickriver.com