| Botanical Name: Celastrus subspicata (Celastraceae). |  Image - Celastrus subspicata - fruit & foliage - Graham Stephens © 2002 |
|
| Common Name: Large Staff Vine. | ||
| Distribution: Cape York, Qld to Illawarra, NSW, New Guinea and New Caledonia. | ||
| Habitat: subtropical and dry rainforest. | ||
| Form: a woody vine growing into the canopy of the rainforest. | ||
| Leaves: alternate, lanceolate-elliptical up to 14cm long and 7cm wide with faintly toothed margins. | ||
| Flower: greenish and small (to 5mm) on hairy, terminal panicles. | ||
| Fruit: yellow-orange leathery capsule to 9mm wide splitting to reveal small angular seeds with orange-yellow arils. Ripe April-May. | ||
| Garden Use: considered too large and vigorous for small gardens but useful otherwise for established rainforest plantings. | ||
| Edible?: No. | ||
| Propagation: from fresh seed with the aril removed. | ||
| Comments: Flowers are fragrant and frugivores eat the aril covered seeds. | ||
|
Description by Kenneth McClymont.
|
||
 Image - Celastrus subspicata - fruit & foliage - Graham Stephens © 2002 |
||