Family: RUBIACEAE
Genus: Atractocarpus
Species: vaginatus
Species Author: Guillaum.
Atractocarpus vaginatus is an understory tree species that grows in low-statured, dense shrub dominated vegetation. The leaves are ovate in shape and are quite thick and glossy with entire leaf margins. The leaves are arranged in an opposite arrangement on the branches and stipules or small bracts are present on the stem between the leaf stalks (petioles). The stipules are as long as the leaf stalks and narrow to a fine point at the tips. The stipules are deciduous therefore are visible only on young branches. The fragrant, white flowers are arranged in dense clusters containing 2-8 flowers that develop at the tips of the branches. The petals are fused at the base to form a narrow tubular flower from which the five petal lobes, which are equal in length to the tube, spread out into a star shape. The pollen producing structures, known as the stamens, are inserted into the narrow tube. The green to yellow fruit are oval in shape and contain many small seeds encased within a fleshy pulp.
(Atractocarpus vaginatus. Endemia: Faune & Fore de Nouvelle-Caleonie. Accessed online on 6 August 2007 at http://www.endemia.nc/plante/.)
(Puttock, C.F. 1999. Revision of Atractocarpus (Rubiaceae: Gardenieae) in Australia and new combinations for some extra-Australian taxa. Australian Systematic Botany 12: 271-309.)
Atractocarpus chartaceus is cultivated in tropical and sub-tropical regions. It has fragrant, white flowers, glossy leaves, and bright orange-red fruit. Other species of Atractocarpus, including A. vaginatus, are rare in cultivation.
Atractocarpus vaginatus is endemic to New Caledonia. It is found in low-statured shrub or tree dominated vegetation that grows in shallow, sandy soil. The genus Atractocarpus contains around 40 species that are native to Australia, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Philippines, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and the Pacific Islands of Fiji, Tonga, and Tahiti. New Caledonia is the center of diversity of the genus containing 15 species, 14 of which are endemic.
(Atractocarpus vaginatus. Endemia: Faune & Fore de Nouvelle-Caleonie. Accessed online on 6 August 2007 at http://www.endemia.nc/plante/.)
(Puttock, C.F. 1999. Revision of Atractocarpus (Rubiaceae: Gardenieae) in Australia and new combinations for some extra-Australian taxa. Australian Systematic Botany 12: 271-309.)
The generic name Atractocarpus comes from the Greek work atraktos meaning a spindle and carpos meaning fruit. This refers describes the shape of the fruit in the first species described in the genus, Atractocarpus chartaceus, which is broadest in the middle and narrows towards each end.
(Puttock, C.F. 1999. Revision of Atractocarpus (Rubiaceae: Gardenieae) in Australia and new combinations for some extra-Australian taxa. Australian Systematic Botany 12: 271-309.)
The genus Atractocarpus was previously considered to contain only 13 species endemic to New Caledonia. Recent study has resulted in the expansion of the genus to include four other genera that each contained only one or a few species. It can be difficult for botanists to determine exactly which characters or features are diagnostic for a genus the presence of which allows a species to be included in that particular genus. For example based on the size, shape, and arrangement of the stipules a species may be placed in one genus but features of the petals may suggest placement in an alternative genus. Frequently DNA sequence data is being used to determine the evolutionary relationships of species and genera, to support the inclusion and exclusion of species in a genus, and therefore of the circumscription of a genus. Atractocarpus is currently undergoing further revision that may result in additional species being transferred into it.
(Puttock, C.F. 1999. Revision of Atractocarpus (Rubiaceae: Gardenieae) in Australia and new combinations for some extra-Australian taxa. Australian Systematic Botany 12: 271-309.)
We currently have 4 herbarium specimens for Atractocarpus vaginatus in our collection. Click on any specimen below to view the herbarium sheet data.
- 025094 - collected by Tim Flynn in 1998
- S064100 - collected by Tim Flynn in 1998
- 040833 - collected by David H. Lorence in 2002
- S062657 - collected by David H. Lorence in 2002
