southern blushwood  |  

Fontainea venosa, Family Euphorbiaceae, also known as Bahrs Scrub Fontainea, is a shrub or
tree growing to 18 m high. This species is dioecious, with separate male and female plants.
The leaves are 5Ð9.5 cm long, 2Ð4.5 cm wide, leathery, with 7Ð9 pairs of secondary veins and
the leaf base tapers gradually to a point. The leaf stalks (petioles) are slightly swollen at the
base and 3Ð13 mm long. The flowers have short hairs on the outside and lack hairs on the
inside. Male flowers have 20Ð24 stamens and a disc 0.7 mm high. Female flowers have a disc
0.7 mm high, styles 0.5 mm long and a hairless (glabrous) ovary. Fruit are almost globular,
2Ð2.6 cm long, 1.7Ð2.6 cm wide, firm-fleshy and yellow. The endocarp is 1.5Ð2.4 cm long
and 1.2Ð1.7 cm wide, with 3Ð4 ridges at the sutures; the intersutural faces are smooth with
scattered vascular foramina (Jessup & Guymer, 1985). Prior to 1985 this species was called
Fontainea sp. Bahrs Scrub (CHAH, 2005).