Petalostigma 
P. banksii Britten & S.Moore 
A slender deciduous tree 2-4 m tall; bark rough. 
Young growth sericeous, hairs persisting on petioles 
and leaf veins, otherwise becoming glabrous. 
Stipules c. 2 mm long. Leaves often on short lateral 
shoots; petioles 2-9 mm long; blades glossy above, 
dull below, oblanceolate to elliptic, 19-50 mm long, 
10-30 mm wide, L/B 1.3-2.4, base abruptly attenu- 
ate, apex obtuse or emarginate. Fruit 12-17 mm long, 
13-15 mm wide, glabrous. Flowering: Sept - Nov; 
fruiting: Jan - July. Fig. 74 
Endemic to Australia, in Qld and NT north of 
20°S. More common in southern parts of the DR. Ina 
variety of habitats, usually on texture contrast soils 
which become arid during the dry season. 
P. pubescens Domin 
A small evergreen tree to 6 m tall, taller south of 
the DR; bark rough. Young growth, branchlets, 
petioles and undersides of leaves densely sericeous, 
sometimes rusty. Stipules c. 1.5 mm long. Petioles 
4-10 mm long; blades strongly discolorous, ovate, 
narrowly ovate or elliptic, 18-60 mm long, 9-40 mm 
wide, L/B 1.2-1.9(2.7), glabrous to glabrescent above, 
base abruptly attenuate, apex obtuse, often with a 
EUPHORBIACEAE 229 
minute mucro. Fruit globose to depressed globose, 
16-25 mm long, 17-20 mm wide, glabrescent. 
Flowering: Sept - Dec; fruiting: Feb - Oct. Not 
illustrated. Quinine Tree 
Found in northern Australia from the Kimberley to 
Cape York, in New Guinea, and as far south as north- 
ern NSW. Common in the DR. Occurs in open forest 
and woodland on a variety of soils. 
P. quadriloculare F.Muell. 
An evergreen erect, multi-stemmed subshrub to 1 
m tall. Young growth and branchlets densely sericeous 
with a silvery sheen, upper surface of leaves 
becoming glabrous with age. Stipules narrowly 
triangular, c. 4 mm long. Petioles 4-8 mm long. Leaf 
blades discolorous, ovate, elliptic or orbicular, rarely 
narrowly elliptic, 22-70 mm long, 10-50 mm wide, 
L/B 1.1-2.6, base abruptly attenuate, margin entire 
or shallowly dentate, slightly inrolled, apex acute or 
obtuse, often with a minute mucro. Fruit globose, 
14-18 mm long, glabrous. Flowering: May - Nov; 
fruiting: Mar - July. Fig. 74 
Found in northern Australia from the Kimberley to 
Cape York. Common in the DR. Occurs in savanna 
usually on skeletal or-shallow lateritic soils. 
PHYLLANTHUS L. 
Shrubs, subshrubs, annual or perennial herbs (also trees outside DR). Stems foliose throughout or foliage 
phyllanthoid (distichous on lateral branchlets, giving the appearance of pinnate leaves). Stipules persistent, 
often peltate. Leaves alternate, simple, entire. Flowers small, monoecious, rarely dioecious; tepals usually in 
two whorls, usually with a defined midrib and coloured hyaline margin; male flowers with disk glands often 
present; stamens 2-6, filaments free or connate; female flowers with tepals usually larger than males; disk 
glands often present, variously shaped; ovary usually 3-locular with 2 ovules per locule; styles 3, bifid. Fruit 
a depressed globular capsule with walls and seeds falling away from a persistent dissepiment, usually lobed, 
in one species a berry. Seeds trigonous, ecarunculate. 
A genus of c. 600 species occurring in tropical and subtropical regions of both hemispheres. About 50 
species occur in Australia with c. 20 species in the NT and 11 in the DR. 
Three introduced species are commonly in cultivation in the DR. Phyllanthus emblica L. and P. acidus (L.) 
Skeels (syn. P. distichus Muell.Arg.) are small trees with edible, acid, fleshy fruit (Scholefield, 1984). Both 
species are illustrated by Hearne (1975) and their uses listed by Macmillan (1956). P. emblica has crowded 
leaves <5 mm wide while P. acidus has leaves >15 mm wide. A third species, known in the nursery trade as 
Waterfall Plant is a common low ornamental shrub. 
1. Scandent shrub with fleshy fruit ....... P. reticulatus 
1. Shrubs, subshrubs or herbs; fruit dry 2 
2. Fruit conspicuously tuberculate; annual herb on floodplains P. urinaria 
2 Femme ET UIU SOO OF ALMOSUSO meremerte srr eT eT TTT Tare teee Treen TTT ene mer 3 
3. Stems and leaves hispidulous; leaves broadly elliptic to orbicular; 
whitejlatexipresentinumnrmrt.tonterrrcietsntitiictncrtinrttrtre ere na een P. flagellaris 
