Gyrocarpus americanus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Magnoliids
Order: Laurales
Family: Hernandiaceae
Genus: Gyrocarpus
Species:
G. americanus
Binomial name
Gyrocarpus americanus
Synonyms[2]
  • Gyrocarpus acuminatus Meisn.
  • Gyrocarpus asiaticus Willd.
  • Gyrocarpus jacquinii Gaertn. nom. illeg.
  • Gyrocarpus jacquinii Roxb. nom. illeg.
  • Gyrocarpus lobatus Blanco
  • Gyrocarpus rugosus R.Br.
  • Gyrocarpus sphenopterus R.Br.

Gyrocarpus americanus is a flowering plant in the Hernandiaceae family, with a wide pantropical distribution. Its common names include the helicopter tree, propeller tree, whirly whirly tree, stinkwood or shitwood.

Description

Gyrocarpus americanus is a slender, deciduous tree with smooth, grey bark. The tree grows to about 12 m in height.

The leaves are spirally arranged, crowded near the ends of the branches, and grow up to 150 × 120 mm in size. They are ovate, often 3-lobed, dark green above, paler and greyer below, with velvety surfaces, 3-veined from the base. The veins are yellowish.

The cream to yellowish-green flowers grow in compact heads and have an unpleasant smell. The fruit is a woody nut with two long thin wings that help in wind dispersal. The winged fruit and the smell of the flowers have given the tree its various common names.[3]

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Several other subspecies have been described. Kubitzki distinguished eight – three in Madagascar, one each in tropical West and East Africa, one in tropical Australia, and one in Malesia, with the eighth being the typical subspecies G. a. americanus originating in the Palaeotropics and reaching the Neotropics by trans-Pacific dispersal. Most of these are rarely collected or are not recognised. Moreover, the monophyly of G. americanus remains unclear; the African species G. angustifolius and G. hababensis may lie within it.[4]

Uses

Tongan children play with its winged seeds (puko vili); its timber is an occasional vaka building material, an infusion of its bark can be drunk to cure stomach pains.[5]

References

Inline citations

  1. ↑ Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI); IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group (2020) [amended version of 2019 assessment]. "Gyrocarpus americanus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T145824684A170341128. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T145824684A170341128.en. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  2. ↑ "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Specie". Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  3. ↑ Flowers of India, retrieved 1 March 2016
  4. ↑ Michalak et al. (2010).
  5. ↑ Whistler, Art (2011). The Rare Plants of Tonga (PDF). Tonga Trust Ltd. pp. 100–1.

Sources referenced

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gyrocarpus americanus.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.