Eupomatia bennettii Small Bolwarra Flower Closeup

Description:

A small primative shrub to 1m from Eastern Australian Subtropical Rainforests the flowers have no true petals and are similar to fossils from 120 million years ago. This plant is one of only three members of the family on earth (all in Australian Rainforests). This plant depends on weevils (beetles) in the genus Elleshodes for pollination in a remarkable obligate relationship.Amazingly Eupomatia like fossils derived from the Cretaceous and have been discovered in America indicating a much larger former range and these fossils seem to show similar adaptations for beetle pollination. These fossils are described here www.amjbot.org/content/85/9/1273.full.pdf