Botanical art
Prior names
Melicytus dentatus
Hymenanthera dentata
Hymenanthera angustifolia
Common names
Tree violet
Etymology
Melicytus, from the Greek 'meli', meaning honey and 'kytos', meaning hollow containers, referring to the staminal nectaries of the flowers. Angustifolius, from the Latin 'augusta' ,meaning narrow and 'folium', meaning leaf. Divaricatus, from Latin meaning to spread apart.
Distribution and status
Found in South Australia in the lower Flinders Ranges and across the Mount Lofty Ranges. A small population occurs around Naracoorte. Also found in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Native. Uncommon in South Australia. Common in the other States.
Herbarium regions: Flinders Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray, Southern Lofty, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)
Plant description
Dense branching shrub to 2 m tall, with few succulent lance-shaped leaves and long spines. Flowers are small and yellow along woody stems. Flowering between August and December. Fruits are deep blue, round fleshy fruit to 20 mm long. Seeds are dark brown ovoid seeds to 6 mm long.
Seed collection and propagation
Collect seeds between October and April. Pick by hand ripe fruits which are soft and deep blue in colour. May have to lift branches to find the fruits. Place the fruits in a bucket of water and rub by hand to remove the flesh. Wash again with clean water and drain. Then place the wet seeds on some paper towel and leave to dry. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. From three collections, the seed viability was average to high, ranging from 60% to 90%. This species has physiological dormancy that need to be overcome for the seed to germinate.
Location | No. of seeds (weight grams) | Number of plants | Date collected | Collection number Collection location | Date stored | % Viability | Storage temperature |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
MSB | 1,100 (21.05 g) | 30 | 20-Jan-2006 | DJD354 Southern Lofty | |||
BGA | 3,500 (52.61 g) | 5 | 11-Apr-2006 | DJD455 South Eastern | 9-Aug-2006 | 90% | -18°C |
BGA | 2,100 (28.43 g) | 3 | 11-Apr-2006 | DJD454 South Eastern | 9-Aug-2006 | 60% | -18°C |
BGA | 1,050 (39 g) | 30+ | 6-Apr-2010 | DJD1825 Southern Lofty | 1-Jun-2010 | 90% | -18°C |