Eucryphia jinksii, the Springbrook leatherwood, is a species of rare rainforest trees found in Queensland and New South Wales, Australia, of the plant family Cunoniaceae.
| Eucryphia jinksii | |
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Conservation status | |
Endangered (NCA) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Oxalidales |
| Family: | Cunoniaceae |
| Genus: | Eucryphia |
| Species: | E. jinksii |
| Binomial name | |
| Eucryphia jinksii | |
They grow naturally to 30m tall yet were discovered as a new species only in 1994 by David Jinks.[1]
Eucryphia jinksii’s endemic, very restricted and threatened distribution has obtained the conservation status of "endangered", officially listed in the regulation current as of 27 September 2013[update], of the Queensland government legislation, the Nature Conservation Act 1992.[3]
It is known from a single creek catchment in Warm Temperate Rainforest on the Springbrook Plateau. Another stand has been discovered growing not as trees but as a thicket of multi stemmed shrubs on a wind sheared clifftop also in the Springbrook Area. It grows in New South Wales at Numinbah Nature Reserve,[4] on the Mount Warning caldera.
E. jinksii trees have pale lichen covered bark typical of many species in the Warm Temperate Rainforests. Often a ring of coppice shoots surrounds the base of an adult tree, coppice and seedling leaves have 5-7 leaflets, while adult leaves have 1–3.
Flowers are cream with four petals and numerous stamens. Beehives near other species of Eucryphia make a famous rich honey known as Leatherwood Honey this species has considerable potential for honey production.
Fruits are small brown capsules with multiple segments and small seeds.
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