Bowenia spectabilis Information
Identification:
Plants acaulescent; stem subterranean, tuber-like, elongate, to 10 cm in diameter, with an elongate tuberous taproot, and 1-5 short, slender leaf and conebearing branches. Leaves 1-7 in the crown, erect, with 4-10 spreading branches (pinnae), 100-200 cm long, to 100 cm broad; petiole to 100 cm long. Leaflets 7-30 on each branch, obliquely lanceolate, decurrent at base, 7-15 cm long, 1.5-4 cm broad, entire or a few with occasional coarse lacerations, or rarely regularly shortly serrate. Pollen cones stalked, ovoid, to 5 cm long, 2.5 cm in diameter; sporophylls broadly cuneate, distally dilated and truncate. Seed cones sessile, ovoid to globose, to 10 cm long, 10 cm in diameter; sporophylls in about 8 ranks, the expanded ends ± hexagonal, 3-4.5 cm broad, c. 1.5 cm high. Seeds to 3.2 cm long, 1.8 cm wide; sarcotesta white maturing to dull purple.
General Information:
Scattered in open situations in and around rainforest in north-eastern Queensland, on the coast and ranges from Cardwell to Cooktown, with an outlying occurrence in the McIlraith Range.
Distribution:
Native to, Australia