Gyrocarpus americanus

Short description: Species of flowering plant

Gyrocarpus americanus

Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]

Scientific classification
Kingdom:  | Plantae
Clade:  | Tracheophytes
Clade:  | Angiosperms
Clade:  | Magnoliids
Order:  | Laurales
Family:  | Hernandiaceae
Genus:  | Gyrocarpus
Species:  |

G. americanus

Binomial name
Gyrocarpus americanus

Jacq.

Synonyms[2]

* Gyrocarpus acuminatus Meisn.
* Gyrocarpus asiaticus Willd.
* Gyrocarpus jacquinii Gaertn. nom. illeg.
* Gyrocarpus jacquinii Roxb. nom. illeg.
* Gyrocarpus lobatus Blanco
* Gyrocarpus rugosus R.Br.
* Gyrocarpus sphenopterus R.Br.

Bark Leaf

Gyrocarpus americanus is a flowering plant in the Hernandiaceae family, with a wide pantropical distribution. Its common names include the helicopter tree, propeller tree, whirly whirly tree, stinkwood or shitwood.

## Contents

* 1 Description
* 2 Taxonomy
* 2.1 Subspecies
* 3 Uses
* 4 Traditional ecological knowledge
* 5 References
* 5.1 Inline citations
* 5.2 Sources referenced
* 6 External links

## Description

Gyrocarpus americanus is a slender, deciduous tree with smooth, grey bark. The tree grows to about 12 m in height.

The leaves are spirally arranged, crowded near the ends of the branches, and grow up to 150 × 120 mm in size. They are ovate, often 3-lobed, dark green above, paler and greyer below, with velvety surfaces, 3-veined from the base. The veins are yellowish.

The cream to yellowish-green flowers grow in compact heads and have an unpleasant smell. The fruit is a woody nut with two long thin wings that help in wind dispersal. The winged fruit and the smell of the flowers have given the tree its various common names.[3]

## Taxonomy

### Subspecies

* G. a. africanus Kubitzki (Africa)
* G. a. americanus Jacq. (East Africa, India, Malesia, northern Australia, Melanesia, Polynesia, and South and Central America)
* G. a. glaber Kubitzki (Madagascar)

Several other subspecies have been described. Kubitzki distinguished eight – three in Madagascar, one each in tropical West and East Africa, one in tropical Australia, and one in Malesia, with the eighth being the typical subspecies G. a. americanus originating in the Palaeotropics and reaching the Neotropics by trans-Pacific dispersal. Most of these are rarely collected or are not recognised. Moreover, the monophyly of G. americanus remains unclear; the African species G. angustifolius and G. hababensis may lie within it.[4]

## Uses

Tongan children play with its winged seeds (puko vili); its timber is an occasional vaka building material, an infusion of its bark can be drunk to cure stomach pains.[5]

## Traditional ecological knowledge

The Gija people of the East Kimberly, Australia, call this tree Jarlaloony. For tens of thousands of years, they have used the wood of this tree to make coolamons and, more recently, other carved objects[6].

## References

### Inline citations

1. ↑ Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI); IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group (2020). "Gyrocarpus americanus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T145824684A170341128.en. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/145824684/170341128. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
2. ↑ "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Specie". http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/search?q=Gyrocarpus+americanus.
3. ↑ Flowers of India, http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Helicopter Tree.html, retrieved 1 March 2016
4. ↑ Michalak et al. (2010).
5. ↑ Whistler, Art (2011). The Rare Plants of Tonga. Tonga Trust Ltd. pp. 100-1. https://www.cepf.net/sites/default/files/sg51070-final-report.pdf.
6. ↑ Peters, Rusty; Blythe, Joe; Crane, Anna (2022). Gija Dictionary. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press. ISBN 978-1-922752-10-9.

### Sources referenced

* Michalak, Ingo; Zhang Li-Bing; Renner, Susanne S. (2010-05-11). "Trans-Atlantic, trans-Pacific and trans-Indian Ocean dispersal in the small Gondwanan Laurales family Hernandiaceae". Journal of Biogeography 37 (7): 1214–1226. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2699.2010.02306.x.
* "Helicopter Tree". Flowers of India. http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Helicopter Tree.html.

## External links

* Template:AfricanPlants
* Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants, https://apps.lucidcentral.org/rainforest/text/entities/gyrocarpus_americanus.htm, retrieved 24 March 2021

Wikidata ☰ Q5625456 entry

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