Cochlospermum fraseri
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malvales
Family: Bixaceae
Genus: Cochlospermum
Species:
C. fraseri
Binomial name
Cochlospermum fraseri
Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms[1]
  • Maximilianea fraseri (Planch.) Kuntze

Cochlospermum fraseri is a tree in the family Bixaceae with common names cotton tree, kapok bush, and kapok tree.[2] It is native to north western Australia (in Western Australia[3] and the Northern Territory[4]).

Taxonomy

French botanist Jules Émile Planchon described this species in 1847 from Melville Island off the north coast of Australia.[5] Two subspecies are recognised: subspecies fraseri, found mainly from Katherine to Melville Island, has smooth leaves and 2 mm-long bracts, and subspecies heteronemum, from Katherine west to the Ord River, has finely furred leaves and 40–58 mm-long bracts.[4]

Description

Cochlospermum fraseri is a deciduous[3] tree or shrub which can grow to 7 m tall.[4] It flowers from April to October[4] (March to August[3]), the inflorescence being a terminal panicle.[4] The flower is asymmetric, having five sepals in two whorls, with the outer two sepals being shorter than the inner three.[6] It has numerous stamens.[4] The flowers often appear when the plant has no leaves.[7] It fruits from June to March, with the fruit being a woody capsule having 3 to 5 valves.[4] The seed is surrounded by fluffy, "cottony" threads,[8] giving rise to the common name, kapok tree.

Distribution and habitat

It is found in the bioregions of Central Kimberley, Dampierland, Gulf Fall and Uplands, Northern Kimberley, Ord Victoria Plain, Pine Creek, Victoria Bonaparte in the Northern Territory.,[4] and the bioregions of Central Kimberley, Dampierland, Great Sandy Desert, Northern Kimberley, Ord Victoria Plain, Victoria Bonaparte in Western Australia.[3]

Cochlospermum fraseri grows in open eucalypt woodland on a variety of soils, including sands, gravelly soils, and heavy clay soils.[4]

Uses

The indigenous people of northern Australia would eat the flowers, either raw or cooked, and the roots of young plants.[7] They also used to use the fluff from the seeds as body decoration.[8]

This plant is a "calendar" plant of the Jawoyn people: flowering indicates when freshwater crocodiles are laying eggs, fruiting the time for collecting them.[8]

References

  1. ↑ The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species, retrieved 3 April 2016
  2. ↑ Atlas of Living Australia
  3. 1 2 3 4 FloraBase, DPAW, retrieved 3 April 2016
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 2018. NTflora factsheet: Cochlospermum fraseri. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  5. ↑ Planchon, Jules Émile (1847). "Sur la nouvelle famille des Cochlospermées". London Journal of Botany (in French). 6: 307 – via BHL.
  6. ↑ Kerrigan, R.A. & Dixon, D.J. 2011. NTflora 'Flora of the Darwin Region, Vol 1, Bixaceae Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  7. 1 2 Brock, John (2001) [First published 1988]. Native plants of northern Australia. Frenchs Forest, New South Wales: New Holland Press. p. 124. ISBN 978-1-876334-67-3.
  8. 1 2 3 Moore, P. 2005. A Guide to Plants of Inland Australia (p. 376), Reed New Holland, Sydney Australia, ISBN 9781876334864
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