Pennantia cunninghamii, known as brown beech,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Pennantiaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a tree with a fluted trunk, elliptic or oblong leaves and white, either bisexual or male flowers.
Description
Pennantia cunninghamii is a tree that typically grows to a height of up to 30 m (98 ft) and has an irregularly fluted trunk with dark grey to brown, often scaly bark and a flanged base. The leaves are elliptic or oblong, 70–180 mm (2.8–7.1 in) long and 40–80 mm (1.6–3.1 in) wide on a petiole 10–20 mm (0.39–0.79 in) long and arranged along zig-zagging branchlets. Both sides of the leaves are glossy with prominent domatia on the veins. The flowers are bisexual or male, arranged in panicles on the ends of branches or in upper leaf axils, the sepals insignificant, the petals glabrous, 3–4 mm (0.12–0.16 in) long and 1.0–1.5 mm (0.039–0.059 in) wide. Flowering occurs from November to January and the fruit is a fleshy black drupe 10–15 mm (0.39–0.59 in) long and 7–9 mm (0.28–0.35 in) wide containing a single seed.[2][3][4][5]
