Alectryon coriaceus 040506-6577

Description:

The Domain, Sydney (adjoining Botanic Gardens).Genus Alectryon includes some tall rainforest trees but some species have extended into much more exposed habitats, such as this one which occurs in seashore scrubs in northern NSW. Others occur widely in the semi-arid interior, most of them in the northern half of Australia. Pinnate leaves are the ancestral state in this genus, but the species from exposed habitats show a strong tendency to unifoliolate leaves in the adult state.Fruits are loculicidal capsules with 3 compartments each potentially containing a single seed, but often only 1 or 2 seeds develop. The seeds are black and shiny, each partly enclosed by an edible red aril, which is an outgrowth of the seed stalk. Arils are eaten by birds and possibly other fauna which thereby disperse the less edible seeds.