A fine specimen of Geijera salifciolia (photo above) was a highlight of our recent outing to parts of Bowling Green National Park south of Townsville.
Geijera salifciolia (Rutaceae), also known as Scrub Wilga or Green Satinheart, is native to north-eastern Australia, typically seen in monsoon forest and drier rain forest. It also occurs in New Guinea and New Caledonia.
Geijera salifciolia has shiny green leaves (photo above) with numerous small oil dots, mildly aromatic when crushed. The leaves are arrayed in a dense rounded canopy that maintains a healthy green appearance through long dry periods.
Geijera salifciolia flowers abundantly (photo above) between March and May in our area, coastal north Queensland. A different flowering period (September to November) is given by several online sources, without geographic qualification. Possibly Sept-Nov flowering applies for southern parts of Geijera salifciolia range – can anyone confirm?
In mid-June the Geijera salifciolia we inspected (top photo above) was carrying a dense crop of small fruits (photo above) many of which were changing colour from green to light brown. Some of the fruits were already open, exposing glistening round black seeds (right hand side of photo above).