|
History:
Lepidozamia peroffskyana
, described in 1857, was named after Count Peroffsky, a Russian
nobleman and benefactor of the St Petersburg Botanic Garden, where the type plant was cultivated.
Distribution Range:
L. peroffskyana
is a large cycad that is endemic to Eastern Australia and which
grows on the north coast of New South Wales and in south-eastern Queensland. It has a distribution
range that stretches over approximately 700 kms of coastal and near coastal areas and which extends
from near Taree on the mid-north coast of New South Wales to near Gympie, north of Brisbane, in
Queensland.
Habitat Conditions:
L. peroffskyana
is the tallest growing cycad in New South Wales. It normally
grows in large dense stands - often in abundance, with adult plants growing so prolifically that the fronds
of numerous plants actually overlap each other. It grows in abundance at altitudes of up to 700 metres
near Dorrigo, which is the wettest town in New South Wales, with an annual average rainfall of
approximately 2,000 mms (80 inches). Forest areas near Dorrigo are heavily infested with leeches, ticks
and mosquitos.
L. peroffskyana
generally grows under a eucalypt canopy in habitat conditions ranging
from stabilised sand dunes and sand hills near the ocean to steep slopes on mountain ranges
adjoining the sometimes narrow coastal belt. On the mountain ranges it grows in areas of
wet sclerophyll forest bordering on rain forest, while closer to the
ocean it can be found growing in depauperate littoral rainforest or open scrubby forest.
|
Figure 1. Multi-trunked plant.
|
Climatic Data:
Climatic data relating to Murwillumbah, Coffs Harbour and Taree, which are situated at
the northern extremity, centre and southern extremity of the New South Wales distribution range of this
cycad respectively (and covering altitude, annual average rainfall, number of annual rain days and frost
days and minimum and maximum temperatures reached at least once per week in July and January
respectively) is as follows:
| | Altitude
(metres)
| Annual
Average
Rainfall (mm)
| Rain Days
| Frost Days
| July
Minimum °C
| January
Maximum °C
|
|---|
| Taree | 8 | 1178 | 116 | 10 | 1.3 | 33.3
|
|---|
| Coffs Harbour | 5 | 1708 | 144 | 6 | 2.6 | 28.9
|
|---|
| Murwillumbah | 18 | 1687 | 156 | 4 | 3.6 | 32.1
|
|---|
Rainfall Patterns:
Over 60% of the annual rainfall covering the New South Wales distribution range of
L. peroffskyana
falls in summer and autumn, but overall the rainfall pattern is split on a seasonal basis,
with 50% of the annual rainfall falling in spring and summer and 50% in autumn and winter. The
seasonal rainfall pattern is as follows: Summer - 32%, Autumn - 32%, Winter - 18% and Spring - 18%.
Figure 2. Plants in habitat.
Principal Characteristics:
The principal characteristics of L. peroffskyana
are:
(1) a tall columnar trunk, normally standing 0.6 to 1.8 metres above ground level to a maximum
height of approximately 5 metres - and ranging up to 35 cms in diameter,
(2) a maximum of approximately 50 to 60 very glossy, dark green fronds that range up to 2 to 3
metres in length,
(3) an untwisted rhachis,
(4) entire pinnae, rising in an arching manner from the rhachis, then tending to droop, and
(5) seeds with reddish coloured flesh, though occasionally with yellow coloured flesh.
Figure 3. Branched plant, estimated height 5 metres.
|
Trunks:
This cycad normally has an unbranched trunk, though in some stands it is not uncommon to
find multi-headed plants or plants with branched trunks, with some plants having as many as 5 separate
trunks (Figures 1&3). This tendency for plants to branch occurs frequently in some
stands, but in other disjunct stands it is rare to find plants with branched trunks.
The tallest L. peroffskyana
plant that I have seen growing in New South Wales (Figure 3)
was a plant that branched approximately 1.8 metres above ground level into 2 separate trunks
that were, respectively, an estimated 3.1 and 3.3 metres in length thus attaining a maximum height of a
little over 5 metres.
The trunks and crowns of L. peroffskyana
are often host to epiphytic plants such as
Platycerium bifurcatum
(elkhorn), Asplenium australasicum
(bird's-nest fern) and
Davallia sp.
(hare's-foot ferns).
|
| Fronds:
New fronds of L. peroffskyana
are produced in flushes and rise almost vertically with furled
pinnae for a considerable portion of their ultimate length (Figure 4) before the pinnae
begin to unfurl. The pinnae on new fronds are a distinctive bronze (sometimes brownish) colour, but
change to a glossy dark green as the fronds reach full size and undergo a hardening process. With age,
the fronds tend to arch and produce a graceful palm-like appearance.
During the relatively short period of time in which new fronds reach full size and harden up, the pinnae
are extremely glossy and shiny so much so that, when new growth is uniformly produced in a stand
after a bushfire, the new fronds brilliantly reflect the sunshine, when the sun is directly overhead
(Figure 5).
Pinnae:
The pinnae rise alternately from the midline of the rhachis, as opposed to the pinnae on various
Macrozamia species which rise or extend laterally, from the edges of the rhachis. In contrast with most
Macrozamia species, the pinnae on L. peroffskyana
do not have a pronounced (or sometimes coloured)
callous at the point where they join the rhachis, nor do they have sharply pointed tips like
Macrozamia communis
and
M. johnsonii
(which adds greatly to their attraction as either a potted plant or a garden specimen).
|
Figure 4. Plant with newly emerging fronds.
|
Figure 5. The sun reflected from new growth after a bushfire.
|
