Saturday, April 19, 2008

Hard birds-eye


Alectryon subdentatus
Family: SAPINDACEAE
This is another good garden tree, about which almost all the same things can be said as in the above article. You will notice the similarity between these seeds, which I photographed beside Prince Henry Drive last week, and those of the scrub boonaree Alectryon diversifolius mentioned in an earlier article, but the seeds of this plant are not so roosterish. Both Alectryons have a double seed capsule, but in the Boonaree it is normal for only one of the seeds to develop. In this plant both do, so the capsules pop open on both sides when the arils swell.
While still very drought hardy, this plant is more likely to grow close to the range escarpment. The tough old scrub boonaree’s range extends both east and west.

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