Cryptocarya microneura

Cryptocarya microneura, commonly known as murrogun, is a rainforest tree growing in the eastern coastal parts of Australia.

Habitat
Common in most warm temperate rainforest areas on poorer sedimentary soils, but also in the littoral rainforests. It grows from near Batemans Bay (35° S) in southern New South Wales to near Nambour, Queensland (26° S).

Description
Cryptocarya microneura, known as the murrogun, is a small or medium-sized tree to around 25 metres tall and 30 cm in diameter.

The bark is grey and somewhat corky on small trees, or greyish brown and scaly on larger trees. The trunk is often irregular or fluted in shape.

Leaves are alternate and simple, with a long blunt point at the tip. The upper surface is glossy dark green, the undersurface paler green.

Flowers appear from September to November, being cream, unscented and in panicles. The flowers are finely downy.

The fruit is a drupe, shiny, black and pointed, 12 mm in diameter with faint vertical ribs. The fruit are eaten by rainforest birds including the topknot pigeon. Like most Australian Cryptocarya fruit, removal of the fleshy aril is advised to assist seed germination.

Cryptocarya microneura is a larval host plant for the butterflies Chaetocneme beata, Netrocoryne repanda and Graphium sarpedon.