Rainforest Tree of the Month, June 2019 – McIntyre’s Boxwood

Fallen fruit on the H-track
Fruit with seed still attached

Beginning around the middle of last month (May) some of the tracks around the village had patches of colourful but strangely shaped fruit on the ground. These flattened orange to yellow fruit often have a single seed stuck in the middle. While most rainforest trees are difficult to distinguish based solely on the trunk or leaves, their fruit and flowers can often be distinctive and render them easily identified. Such is the case with McIntyre’s Boxwood (Xanthophyllum octandrum). The best example I have found (although it may now be finished fruiting) is on the H-track just uphill (towards Lennox Crescent) from the old mining test pit and creek lookout. Two mature trees stand near the track (on the left as you face uphill).

MacIntyre’s Boxwood is endemic (i.e restricted to) Queensland, occurring in rainforests from Cape York to the central Qld coast1. Flowering occurs in early summer but the flowers are fairly inconspicuous. The fruit are round, marble-sized and green to pale yellow. When ripe they split open (dehisce) while still attached to the tree to reveal a dark seed attached to the now flattened internal yellow flesh. At this stage the fruit are fairly conspicuous on the tree, and even more so on the dark leaf litter of the forest floor once they have fallen.

Two mature trees on the H-track. The trunk is relatively smooth with no buttress.
Ripe fruit are just discernible in the canopy of the two trees

The fruit is eaten by Cassowaries. The trees are slow growing and large specimens are likely to be very old. The timber has been used commercially and was commonly used to make wooden rulers.

1trin.org.au

Text and photos by Jamie Oliver

2 thoughts on “Rainforest Tree of the Month, June 2019 – McIntyre’s Boxwood”

  1. There’s a small tree on the southern side of the main road near the entrance to Smith’s Crescent. Thanks for the ID. I should have known this one.
    Linda

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