Cryptocarya laevigata, known as the glossy laurel or red-fruited laurel, is a rainforest plant, which ranges from Malesia and New Guinea to eastern Australia.[2] In Australia it grows in the rainforest understorey on fertile soils, from the Richmond River, New South Wales to Cairns in tropical Queensland, where it is often seen in association with the White Booyong.
Cryptocarya laevigata is a shrub or small tree, occasionally reaching 6 metres in height and with a trunk diameter of 8 cm (3.1 in). The bark is brown and smooth apart from vertical raised bumps.
Leaves alternate, elliptical in shape, smooth-edged with a long blunt tip. They are glossy above and below. The leaf features a mid rib and two other lateral veins, giving a three veined appearance. Other leaf veins indistinct.
Small, cream, scented flowers form on panicles from October to December. The fruit is an orange or red drupe, 15 mm (0.59 in) in diameter. The single woody seed is pointed and prominently ribbed, like many other Australian Cryptocarya seeds. The fruit is ripe from to January to May.
Like most Australian Cryptocarya fruit, removal of the slimy red aril is advised to assist seed germination. Roots and shoots usually appear within three to twelve months.
Cryptocarya laevigata ranges across much of Malesia – Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, Java, Sulawesi, and the Philippines – to New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, Solomon Islands, and eastern Australia.[2]
It grows in tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests.[1]
The glossy leaves, small size and attractive red fruit make it suitable as an ornamental tree.
Cryptocarya laevigata, known as the glossy laurel or red-fruited laurel, is a rainforest plant, which ranges from Malesia and New Guinea to eastern Australia. In Australia it grows in the rainforest understorey on fertile soils, from the Richmond River, New South Wales to Cairns in tropical Queensland, where it is often seen in association with the White Booyong.
