Apple berry
In the Australian National Botanic Gardens
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Apiales
Family: Pittosporaceae
Genus: Billardiera
Species:
B. versicolor
Binomial name
Billardiera versicolor
Occurrence data from Australasian Virtual Herbarium
Synonyms[1]
  • Pronaya muelleriana Turcz.
  • Billardiera cymosa auct. non F.Muell.: Walsh, N.G. & Albrecht, D.E. in Walsh, N.G. & Entwisle, T.J. (ed.) (1996)

Billardiera versicolor, commonly known as pale appleberry or sweet appleberry,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Pittosporaceae and is endemic to south-eastern continental Australia. It is a robust, shrubby twiner or scrambler that has mostly narrowly elliptic or narrowly egg-shaped leaves and white, cream-coloured or pale yellow flowers with mauve-red blotches that spread as the flowers age.

Description

Billardiera versicolor is robust, shrubby twiner or scrambler with stems up to several metres long. The adult leaves are more or less sessile, narrowly egg-shaped to narrowly elliptic, 25–60 mm (0.98–2.36 in) long and 4–15 mm (0.16–0.59 in) wide. The flowers are arranged in sessile groups of about five to twelve, each flower on a pedicel 10–12 mm (0.39–0.47 in) long. The sepals are yellowish-green and 2–3 mm (0.079–0.118 in) long and the petals white, cream-coloured or pale yellow, 10–12 mm (0.39–0.47 in) long, with mauve-red blotches that spread as the flower ages. Flowering mainly occurs from September to December and the mature fruit is a green berry 13–15 mm (0.51–0.59 in) long containing many seeds.[2][3][4][5]

Taxonomy and naming

Billardiera versicolor was first formally described in 1857 by Friedrich Wilhelm Klatt in the journal Linnaea from an unpublished description by Ferdinand von Mueller.[6][7] The specific epithet (versicolor) means "variously coloured" or "changing colour".[8]

Distribution and habitat

This species of Billardiera mainly grows in mallee, but also in woodland and scrub, and occurs in western New South Wales, in the western half of Victoria and on the Eyre Peninsula and in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia.[2][3][4][5]

References

  1. 1 2 "Billardiera versicolor". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Conn, Barry J. "Billardiera versicolor". Rpoyal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Billardiera versicolor". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  4. 1 2 Messina, Andre; Stajsic, Val. "Billardiera versicolor". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  5. 1 2 "Billardiera versicolor". South Australian Herbarium. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  6. ↑ "Billardiera versicolor". APNI. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  7. ↑ Klatt, Friedrich W. (1857). "Plantae Muellerianae - Pittosporeae". Linnaea: ein Journal für die Botanik in ihrem ganzen Umfange, oder Beiträge zur Pflanzenkunde. 28 (5): 571. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  8. ↑ William T. Stearn (1992). Botanical Latin. History, grammar, syntax, terminology and vocabulary (4th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. p. 527.
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