Bark smells sweet

Large shrub or small tree to 6 metres in dry rainforest and along the interface between rainforest and eucalypt forest from Illawarra, NSW to Gympie, Queensland and close to Darwin, Northern Territory. Relatively smooth branchlets with only a few scattered hairs and scales. Leaves are soft, hairless, thin and green above and below and are distinctly finely toothed along the margins. Small yellow-green flowers in November to January which are followed by globular orange-brown capsule fruit, ripe March to July. Similar to Croton insularis in that the older leaves on the plant turn red orange before dropping and the bark emits a pleasant odour when injured. Relatively commonly encountered in local rainforest remnants, especially along the exposed, sunnier edges of the forest where it acts as a pioneer species. Its name refers to J.P. Verreaux, a botanical collector from 19th century Tasmania.

Photo: Robert Whyte

Seed collecting and propagation

The globular orange-brown capsule fruit ripens in March to July. Propagation by seed is slow. Collect the capsules when ripe. Once some capsules are beginning to open, pick any that appear to be reaching a similar stage. Allow the capsules to dry out in an airy situation, but keep covered to prevent seeds being flung everywhere as the capsules explode. Collect the seeds as they are expelled and soak in water for up to a week. Sow in seed trays and lightly cover. Keep moist but not over wet. A few seeds may germinate in a month or two, but most won’t germinate until midway through the following spring, when night temperatures start to warm up. It is always worth putting the tray back once seedlings have been pricked out, because more seeds may germinate later