Scientific Name: Alyxia buxifolia
Common Name: seabox
Family Classification (Clade): Eudicots
Family: Apocynaceae
Form Description: Sprawling shrub, many spreading branches. Shiny oval, dark green leaves.
Flowers: Scented, white, 2-7 in terminal clusters, 5 windmill petals, orange tube.
Fruit: Fleshy drupes – 6-10mm diam, often 2 end-to-end, orange to red at maturity.
Municipality
Plant Communities
Habitat Notes
Among rocks in salt spray zone, cliffs and old dunes, harshly exposed sites. Local on rocks and cliffs northern Tasmania and north-west coasts.
Site Tolerance
Dry, Exposed, Moist, Rocky, Windy
Soil Tolerance
Loam, Nutrient-poor, Sandy, Well-drained
Frost Tolerance
Hardy
Propagation Calendar
-
Flowering Month
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec -
Seed Collecting Month
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec -
Sowing Month
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec -
Cutting Month
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Propagation Method
Seed Information
Seed Collection
Difficult to grow from seed. Fruit ripe when outer covering dry. Collect fruit from tree by knocking onto groundsheet. Remove outer covering and store nuts in cool, dry, well-ventilated place; use within 1-2 years. Can collect seed from bird droppings in area where plants occur.
Seed Treatment Method
Fermentation Collect fleshy fruits in a plastic bag, mash up and allowed to ferment to replicate digestion by a bird.
Seed Storage Life
1-2 years
Seed Treatment Notes
Remove flesh and sow entire drupe. Treatment of drupes with hydrochloric acid will give reasonable results. Gibberallic acid treatment at a rate of 5000 ppm may also aid in germination. Bird-ingested seed gives good results. Untreated seed gives poor results in 2-8 months.
Cutting & Division Information
Cuttings slow to strike.