Daintree National Park

Hello everyone. Alison Milton has produced the June quarterly CNM newsletter. It has some interesting information about what the Nature Mappers have been doing and finding. We hope you enjoy the read....

@SimonDunstan thank you !

:) : https://www.jcu.edu.au/discover-nature-at-jcu/animals/reptiles-and-amphibians-by-scientific-name/tropidonophis-mairii
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Flora of Au (1998) botanical key – via KeyBase: https://keybase.rbg.vic.gov.au/keys/show/9973
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That is very impressive. I hope to return to North Queensland sometime.

On the basis of in the field first hand knowledge over many years of experience,
the field spotting features' evidences shown here in these photographs that I as an experienced local botanist living in this Daintree region advise of,
provide enough for identifying this to *Syzygium monospermum* (evidence just enough showing here to demonstrate this does not identify to *Syzygium cormiflorum*) .

Regarding everybody here working in NatureMapr:
In the future regarding identifying this wet tropics region's rainforest trees, shrubs and vines,
please ensure that you provide evidences of at least two botanical key features – moreover diagnostic features.
A few examples relevant for the thousands of species of, trees, shrubs and vines in this Wet Tropics region (please do not underestimate the species diversity) :
• fruits and foliage (– preferred) .
• flowers and foliage (– next best preference IMHO) .
• flowers and fruits .
• if high in the canopy then make a maximum zoom lens focussed photograph of the canopy
– you may be surprised what we local experienced botanists can make out from distant zoomed–in photographs (even grainy ones) of the actual canopy details evidences that we need to see first hand – foliage details inclusive,
(that people inexperienced in the wet tropics rainforest field work most likely may not notice) .

Here in this sighting we have showing in the photographs here above, evidences of three features:
• most importantly, the flowers of a yellow colour (one of the botanical description's features of this species),
• the bark, including its colour (and texture, etc.): "bark smooth, reddish brown" (quotation from Craven (2003) ),
• the trunk showing the characteristic for this species: "trunk with slits leading to hollows inhabited by ants (Iridomyrmex gilberti, N. Nicholson, pers. comm.)" and "with warty outgrowths that carry the inflorescences" (quotations from Craven (2003) ) .

Also we can see the flowers' petals (but without dimensions) relating to the differences of the petals:
*Syzygium monospermum*: "16 – 20 by 14–21 mm" (Craven 2003)
contrasted with *Syzygium cormiflorum*: "about 8-15 mm diam." (Zich et al. 2020) .

(Here in this sighting not an ideal set of evidences but just enough based on long local field experience
– yet for only office desktop viewers here using only written words about plants and without any local long many years experiences these photographs here do not show enough evidences for merely these office desktop exercises to use written botanical keys to identify this between *Syzygium monospermum* and *Syzygium cormiflorum*. ) .

The most obvious and easy to use major difference between these two trees' species shows in the very different foliage including the leaves and their attachments to the branches –:

• *Syzygium monospermum* has prominantly cordate leaves' laminas' bases which lay out over its very short petioles: 2.3 – 5 mm long (quotation from Craven (2003) ) .

• *Syzygium cormiflorum* has leaves' lamimas' bases clearly: cuneate to "truncate to attenuate"
(quotation from old outdated Flora of Au botanical key which does not have *Syzygium monospermum* in it and back then conflated as if one species the two quite distinct species *Syzygium monospermum* and *Syzygium erythrocalyx* –which Craven (2003) corrected ) ;
– hence with distinctly visible petioles (not obscured and less short) .
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Wet tropics local long experienced (35+ years) good quality naturalist literature:

• Hewett, Neil (2019)
A Stray Liana.
Chapter: "Language" – pages: 197–229–233–246–247–260 .
Daintree Rainforest P/L .
ISBN: 978-0-6484765-0-4 .
https://www.astrayliana.com.au/
https://www.daintreerainforest.org/
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Botanical literature references:

• Craven, L. A. (2003)
Four new species of *Syzygium* (Myrtaceae) from Australia.
Blumea – Biodiversity, Evolution and Biogeography of Plants 48(3) : 479–488 .
https://repository.naturalis.nl/pub/526228
Viewed: 2024 August 20th .
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• Zich Frank A., Bernie P. M. Hyland, Trevor Whiffin, Raelee A. Kerrigan (2020)
Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants information system and botanical matrix identification key - edition 8 ('RFK 8'):
*Syzygium monospermum* Craven fact sheet: → https://apps.lucidcentral.org/rainforest/text/entities/Syzygium_monospermum.htm .
Main web site page: → https://apps.lucidcentral.org/rainforest/ .
Viewed: 2024 August 20th.
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• Cooper, Wendy and William T. (2004 June)
Fruits of the Australian Tropical Rainforest.
—pages: (338–) 366 (–370–373) .
Clifton Hill, Victoria, Australia: Nokomis Editions.
ISBN 9780958174213.
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