Pouteria cotinifolia

Pouteria cotinifolia is an Australian tree in the family Sapotaceae. The common names include small-leaved plum, yellow lemon and small-leaved coondoo. It occurs in the drier rainforests from the Richmond River, New South Wales to the Wenlock River in tropical Queensland.[1]

Pouteria cotinifolia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Sapotaceae
Genus: Pouteria
Species:
P. cotinifolia
Binomial name
Pouteria cotinifolia
Synonyms
  • Planchonella cotinifolia (A.DC.) Dubard.
  • Hormogyne cotinifolia A.DC.

It belongs to the large genus Pouteria which occurs across the tropics from South America to Indonesia and into eastern Australia. A genetic analysis of material found that Pouteria cotinifolia was most closely related to Pouteria eerwah and Pouteria australis was a sister to the two species, the three forming a distinct group.[2]

It grows as a small tree, up to 15 m (49 ft) tall and a stem diameter of 40 cm (16 in). It may be recognised by the small leaves, 1–5 cm (0.39–1.97 in) m long, 0.5–3 cm (0.20–1.18 in) wide, with a rounded tip. Flowering occurs between February and March. The fruit is glossy black, usually containing one shining light brown seed. The seed has a lengthwise scar.

Two varieties are recognized:

  • Pouteria cotinifolia var. pubescens
  • Pouteria cotinifolia var. cotinifolia

References
  1. Floyd, A. G. (2008). Rainforest Trees of Mainland South-eastern Australia (2nd, Revised ed.). Lismore, New South Wales: Terania Rainforest Publishing. p. 408. ISBN 0-958943-67-2. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
  2. Teguh Triono; Anthony H. D. Brown; Judy G. West; Michael D. Crisp (2007). "A phylogeny of Pouteria (Sapotaceae) from Malesia and Australasia". Australian Systematic Botany. 20 (2): 107–18. doi:10.1071/SB06011.
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