Alloxylon flammeum
| Alloxylon flammeum | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Proteales |
| Family: | Proteaceae |
| Genus: | Alloxylon |
| Species: | A. flammeum |
| Binomial name | |
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Alloxylon flammeum P.H.Weston & Crisp |
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| Range of A. flammeum in north Queensland | |
Alloxylon flammeum, commonly known as the Queensland tree waratah or red silky oak, is a medium-sized tree of the family Proteaceae found in the Queensland tropical rain forests of northeastern Australia. It has shiny green elliptical leaves up to 18 cm (7.2 in) long, and prominent orange-red inflorescences that appear from August to October, followed by rectangular woody seed pods that ripen in February and March. Juvenile plants have large (up to 25 cm (10 in) long) deeply lobed pinnate leaves. Previously known as Oreocallis wickhamii, the initial specimen turned out to be a different species to the one cultivated and hence a new scientific name was required. Described formally by Peter Weston and Mike Crisp in 1991, A. flammeum was designated the type species of the genus Alloxylon. This genus contains the four species previously classified in Oreocallis that are found in Australasia.
Alloxylon flammeum is a canopy or emergent tree of the Mabi rainforest community of north Queensland. Its terminal tubular flowers indicate that the species is pollinated by birds. Readily adaptable to cultivation, Alloxylon flammeum prefers a site with good drainage and responds well to extra moisture and fertilisers low in phosphorus. It is listed nationally as vulnerable under the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) as most of its habitat has been cleared for agriculture and logging.
In nature, this is a rainforest tree that can reach 33 m (108 ft) in height with a diameter at breast height (dbh) of 0.6 m (24 in), although in cultivation 10 m (35 ft) is more likely. The trunk has light grey bark with brown lenticels. New branchlets and leaves are hairy. The green foliage consists of several distinct juvenile and adult leaf forms, which are arranged alternately along the stems. Very young plants begin with their first two to four leaves having two or three lobes, but then have narrow leaves with entire margins, measuring 6.5 to 18 cm (2.6–7.2 in) long and 1.3–2.2 cm (0.5–0.8 in) wide. These are then succeeded by pinnate juvenile leaves that have two to nine lobes arising at 30 to 40 degrees forwards, and reach 50 cm (20 in) long. They have prominent midveins along the midline of the main leaf and the lobes. The elliptic or (egg-shaped) adult leaves are 8–25 cm (3.2–10 in) long and up to 4.5 cm (1.8 in) wide, and sit on 1.5 to 2.5-cm (0.6–1 in) long petioles.
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