Plant Number: 27
Common Name: Soap Tree, Red Ash, Leatherjacket
Scientific Name: Alphitonia excelsa
Derivation of name
Alphitonia – from the Greek word, 'alphiton', for barley-groats, a baked barley meal, referring to the mealy red covering around the hard cells in the fruit
excelsa – is from a Latin word, 'excelsa' meaning lofty or high and is referring to the tall habit of the species
Description
- Tree which grows to 18 metres, widely distributed in the Eucalypt forests of the Northern Territory and Queensland
Distinguishing characteristic of this tree are the leaves, which are glossy dark-green above and silver/white underneath
Flowers are tiny and cream in colour
Fruit are a spherical, black berry which starts off green when immature and are 6 – 10 mm in diameter
Tree can be propagated from seed and is comparatively fast growing, semi-deciduous during winter
Human uses
Young
leaf tips were chewed for an upset stomach. A decoction of bark and roots
rubbed on the body as liniment for muscular pains or used as a gargle to
relieve toothache. High saponin content,
meant it was also used as a soap. Leaves were used as an application for sore
eyes and for headache. The crushed
leaves, and sometimes the crushed berries, were also used to poison fish.
Leaves or underground roots used to apply to bites and stings of snakes,
stingrays and insects.
Fauna Usage
They are a host food plant for the Fiery Jewel (Hypochrysops ignita), Blue Jewel (Hypochrysops delicia), Indigo Flash (Rapala varuna simsoni) and Small Green-banded Blue (Psychonotis caelius taygetus) butterflies. In Toohey Forest it is often covered in sawfly larvae.
Acknowledgment: Mountains to Mangroves, Australian National Herbarium, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Bush Heritage, Save our Waterways