Idiospermum australiense (Diels) S.T.Blake (1972:5)
Idiot fruit tree, Green dinosaur
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonym/s: Calycanthus australiensis Diels in Beibl. Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 107: 10 (1912)
Conservation Status
Last record: 1902
Rediscovered in 1971
Rediscovered twice. Including once after cattle were fatally poisoned from ingesting the seeds.
Distribution
north-east Queensland, Australia
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Diels, L. (1912). Uber primitive Ranales der australischen Flora. Bot. Jahrb. 48, Beibl. 107: 10.
Other references:
Blake, S.T. (1972). Idiospermum (Idiospermaceae), a new genus and family for Calycanthus australiensis. Contributions from the Queensland Herbarium 12: 1-37.
Brophy, J. J. and Goldsack, R. J. (1992). The leaf essential oil of Idiospermum australiense (Diels) S.T.Blake. Flavour and Fragrance Journal 7(2): 79–80.
Cooper, W. and Cooper, W. T. (1994). Fruits of the Rain Forest. Chatswood: GEO Productions.
Cooper, W. and Cooper, W. T. (2004). Fruits of the Australian Tropical Rainforest. Melbourne: Nokomis Editions.
Duke, R. K., Allan, R. D., Johnson, G. A. R., Mewett, K. N., Mitrovic, A. D., Duke, C. C. and Hambley, T. W. (1995). Idiospermuline, a trimeric pyrrolidinoindoline alkaloid from the seed of Idiospermum australiense. Journal of Natural Products 58(8): 1200-1208.
Edwards, W., Gadek, P., Weber, E. and Worboys, S. (2001). Idiosyncratic phenomenon of regeneration from cotyledons in the idiot fruit tree, Idiospermum australiense. Austral Ecology 26: 254-258.
Everist, S. L. (1981). Poisonous Plants of Australia, revised edn. Sydney: Angus and Robertson. [pp. 260-261, pl. 33]
Foreman, D. B. (1987). Notes on the wood anatomy of Idiospermum australiense (Idiospermaceae). Muelleria 6(5): 329-333.
Gordon, V. and Reddell, P. (2004). Occurrence of cyanogenic glycosides in seeds and seedlings of Idiospermum australiense, a primitive rainforest angiosperm from tropical Australia, pp. 157-161, in Acamovic, T., Stewart, C.S. & Pennycott, T.W. (eds), Poisonous Plants and Related Toxins. (CABI Publishing: Wallingford, Oxon, U.K.).
Govaerts, R. H. A. (2011). World checklist of selected plant families published update Facilitated by the Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Holmes, Branden. (2021). What's Lost and What Remains: The Sixth Extinction in 100 Accounts (eBook). Self published.
Hyland, B. P. M., Whiffin, T., Zich, F. A., Duffy, S. M., Gray, B., Elick, R., Venter, F. and Christophel, D. C. (2010). Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants. Trees, Shrubs, Vines, Herbs, Grasses, Sedges, Palms, Pandans & Epiphytes. Version 6. (Ed. West, J.G.) (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne). Available at http://www.anbg.gov.au/cpbr/cd-keys/rfk/ [accessed November 2018]
Jessup, L. W. (2007). Idiospermaceae, pp. 103-105. In: Wilson, Annette J. G. (ed.). Flora of Australia, Volume 2 Winteraceae to Platanaceae. Melbourne: ABRS/CSIRO Publishing. xviii + 486 pp.
Jessup, L. W. (2019). Idiospermum australiense. In: Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of the Environment and Energy, Canberra. https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Idiospermum%20australiense [Date Accessed: 14 January 2020]
Johnson, Chris N. (2006). Australia's Mammal Extinctions: A 50 000 Year History. Port Melbourne, Victoria: Cambridge University Press. x + 278 pp. [p. 121]
Lamont, B. (1974). Idiospermum, a living primitive angiosperm. Search 5: 535-536.
Lucas, Grenville Llewellyn and Synge, Hugh (compilers). (1978). The IUCN Plant Red Data Book. Morges, Switzerland: IUCN. 540 pp. [pp. 111-112]
McKenzie, R. (2012). Australia’s Poisonous Plants, Fungi and Cyanobacteria. Collingwood, Victoria: CSIRO Publishing.
POWO. (2025). Plants of the World Online (online resource). Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom. Available at: https://powo.science.kew.org/ [Accessed 3 March 2025]
Williams, K. A. W. (1980). Native Plants of Queensland 2nd edn, 1: 162.
Wilson, C. L. (1976). Floral anatomy of Idiospermum australiense (Idiospermaceae). American Journal of Botany 63(7): 987-996.
Wilson, C. L. (1979). Idiospermum australiense (Idiospermaceae) - aspects of vegetative anatomy. American Journal of Botany 66(3): 280-289.
Worboys, S.J. (2003). Polycarpelly in Idiospermum australiense (Calycanthaceae). Austrobaileya 6(3): 553-556.
Worboys, S. J. and Jackes, B. R. (2005). Pollination processes in Idiospermum australiense (Calycanthaceae), an arborescent basal angiosperm of Australia's tropical rain forests. Plant Systematics and Evolution 251(2-4): 107-117.
https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2017/07/the-idiot-fruit-tree/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiospermum