Alchornea ilicifolia, commonly known as the native holly, is a bush of eastern Australia. It grows in or on the edges of the drier rainforests in coastal parts of New South Wales and Queensland.
The native holly is a shrub or rarely a small tree up to 6 m (20 ft) tall and with a trunk that is usually crooked, with pale grey smooth bark, with some pustules and lenticels. Small branches greenish or fawn in color, with paler lenticels.[4][5] The leaves are holly-like in appearance, 2 to 8 cm (0.79 to 3.15 in) long and 2 to 5 cm (0.79 to 1.97 in) wide.[4][5][6] They are ovate or rhomboidal in shape with three or four acute lobes on each side, each of which is armed with a sharp spine.[4][5][6] They are stiff and glabrous with a petiole around 3 mm (0.12 in) long.[4][5][6]
Greenish flowers appear in November, on racemes up to 5 cm (2.0 in) long, with male and female flowers on separate plants.[4][5][6] The fruit is a dark brown, three-lobed capsule about 6 to 8 mm (0.24 to 0.31 in) in diameter, each lobe containing one seed.[4][5][6] The plant may flower and fruit at any time of year after rain events.[5]
The botanist John Smith originally described this species as Caelebogyne ilicifolia in 1839, from three specimens collected by Allan Cunningham in 1829.[7] The Swiss botanist Johann Müller gave it its current name in 1865.[2] The generic name Alchornea honours the English botanist Stanesby Alchorne,[8] while the species epithet ilicifolia refers to the holly-like leaves (Ilex).
This species grows in vine thickets and monsoon forest on a vriety of soil types, from Jamberoo on the south coast of New South Wales to Atherton in far north Queensland.[4][5][6]
Alchornea ilicifolia is a host plant for the larvae of the Common Albatross butterfly and the moth Dichomeris mesoctenis.[9][10]
Flowers
Flowers
Unripe fruit
Habit
Alchornea ilicifolia, commonly known as the native holly, is a bush of eastern Australia. It grows in or on the edges of the drier rainforests in coastal parts of New South Wales and Queensland.
