{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}} {{Speciesbox | image = Guettardia2.jpg | image2 = Edwards's botanical register (Plate 1393) (7794887190).jpg | image2_caption = ''Guettarda speciosa'' (artist John Lindley) | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn|url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/160300944/160300946 |title=''Guettarda speciosa'' |author=IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group & Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) |year=2020 |access-date=24 May 2021 | doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-1.RLTS.T160300944A160300946.en| article-number =e.T160300944A160300946 }}</ref> | genus = Guettarda | species = speciosa | authority = L. | range_map = Guettarda speciosa GBIFDistMap1.png | range_map_caption = Occurrence data from GBIF<ref name=GBIF>''Guettarda speciosa'' GBIF.org (28 November 2018) GBIF Occurrence Download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.ncywcn</ref> }}
'''''Guettarda speciosa''''', with common names '''sea randia''', or '''zebra wood''',<ref name=GRIN>{{GRIN | accessdate=21 November 2014}}</ref><ref name="RFK8">{{cite web |access-date=21 March 2021 |title=Guettarda speciosa |url=https://apps.lucidcentral.org/rainforest/text/entities/guettarda_speciosa.htm |author=F.A. Zich |author2=B.P.M Hyland |author3=T. Whiffen |author4=R.A. Kerrigan |website=Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants, Edition 8 |year=2020 |publisher=Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) |archive-date=4 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211204032000/https://apps.lucidcentral.org/rainforest/text/entities/guettarda_speciosa.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> is a species of shrub in the family Rubiaceae found in coastal habitats in tropical areas around the Pacific Ocean, including the coastline of central and northern Queensland and Northern Territory in Australia, and Pacific Islands, including Micronesia, French Polynesia and Fiji, Malaysia and Indonesia, Maldives and the east coast of Africa. It reaches 6 m in height, has fragrant white flowers, and large green prominently-veined leaves. It grows in sand above the high tide mark.
==Taxonomy and naming== ''Guettarda speciosa'' was originally described by Carl Linnaeus in volume two of his ''Species Plantarum'' in 1753, citing Java as its origin.<ref>{{cite book| author=Linnaeus C| title=Species Plantarum| volume=2| publisher=Laurentii Salvii| location=Stockholm| year=1753| chapter=Tomus II| chapter-url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/359012| page=991| language=la| archive-date=16 October 2017| access-date=21 May 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016012255/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/359012| url-status=live}}</ref> The genus was named in honour of the 18th century French naturalist Jean-Étienne Guettard, while the specific epithet is derived from the Latin ''speciosus'' 'showy'.<ref name=guetspec>{{cite web|url=http://www.anbg.gov.au/abrs/online-resources/flora/stddisplay.xsql?pnid=55339|title=''Guettarda speciosa'' L., Fl. Australia 50|last1=Du Puy|first1=D.J.|first2=I.R.H.|last2=Telford|first3=A.E.|last3=Orchard|date=1993|work=Flora of Australia Online|publisher=Commonwealth of Australia|access-date=21 May 2021|location=Canberra, ACT|archive-date=4 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211204032301/https://www.anbg.gov.au/abrs/online-resources/flora/stddisplay.xsql?pnid=55339}}</ref> It is the type species of the genus. Its closest relatives are all native to the neotropics, yet it has dispersed widely across tropical habitats worldwide.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.3417/0026-6493(2006)93[103:PIGLRG]2.0.CO;2|issn=0026-6493|year=2006|volume=93|page=103|title=Polyphyly in Guettarda L. (Rubiaceae, Guettardeae) Based on Nrdna ITS Sequence Data1,2|last1=Achille|first1=Frédéric|last2=Motley|first2=Timothy J.|last3=Lowry|first3=Porter P.|last4=Jérémie|first4=Joël|journal=Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden}}</ref>
Alternate names in the Cook Islands include ''Ano'', ''Hano'', ''Fano'', and ''Puapua''. The last is also used in Samoa, and the similar ''Puopua'' in Tonga; New Zealand however uses the term for the ''Clematis paniculata''.<ref name=Bishop>{{cite web |author=McCormack G |url=http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/species.asp?id=6192 |title=Guettarda speciosa |work=Bishop Museum: Cook Islands Biodiversity Database |access-date=2008-06-01 |publisher=Bishop Museum |year=2007 |archive-date=11 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611182605/http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/species.asp?id=6192 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.temarareo.org/PPN-Pua.html|title=Pua|website=Te Māra Reo: The Language Garden|year=2023|publisher=Benton Family Trust}}</ref> It is known as ''{{lang|mh|utilomar}}'' {{IPAc-mh|wityilewmar}} in the Marshall Islands.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2U.htm#utilomar|title=Marshallese-English Dictionary|access-date=9 December 2019|archive-date=6 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406140408/https://trussel2.com/MOD/MED2U.htm#utilomar|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Description== It is a perennial shrub or small tree {{convert|2|–|6|m|ft|abbr=on|0}} tall by {{convert|1|–|3|m|ft|abbr=on|round=0.5}} wide with smooth creamy grey bark. The large oval-shaped leaves are {{convert|15|–|23|cm|in|round=0.5|abbr=on}} long by {{convert|10|–|18|cm|in|round=0.5|abbr=on}} wide. Dark green and smooth above with prominent paler veins, they are finely hairy underneath. Flowering is from October to May, the fragrant white flowers are {{convert|2.5–3|cm|in|abbr=on|frac=4}} long with 4–9 lobes. These are followed by sweet-smelling globular hard fruit, measuring {{convert|2.5–2.8|×|2.2–2.5|cm|in|abbr=on}}, which mature September to March.<ref name=enc>{{cite book| last1=Elliot | first1=Rodger W. | last2=Jones | first2=David L. | last3=Blake | first3=Trevor |title=Encyclopaedia of Australian Plants Suitable for Cultivation: Vol. 5 |year=1990 |page=162 |publisher=Lothian Press |location=Port Melbourne |isbn=0-85091-285-7}}</ref><ref name=Brock>{{cite book |title=Native plants of northern Australia |last=Brock |first=John |year=2001|orig-date=1988 |publisher=New Holland Press |location=Frenchs Forest, New South Wales |isbn=1-876334-67-3 |page=211}}</ref>
==Distribution and habitat== ''Guettarda speciosa'' is found in coastal habitats in tropical areas around the Pacific Ocean, including the coastline of central and northern Queensland and Northern Territory in Australia, and Pacific Islands, including Micronesia, French Polynesia and Fiji, Malaysia and Indonesia, Maldives and the east coast of Africa. As its name suggests, the beach gardenia grows on beaches and sandy places above the high tide level.<ref name=enc/>
==Ecology== The timing of the flowers' opening at night suggests they are pollinated by moths.<ref name=guetspec/>
On Christmas Island, the Christmas white-eye (''Zosterops natalis'') visits the flowers, while the Christmas Island red crab (''Gecarcoidea natalis'') eat the fallen fruit.<ref name=guetspec/> The Mariana Fruit Bat (''Pteropus mariannus'') feeds on the fruit and flowers, acting as a vector for the dispersal of seeds.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}
==Human use==
===Use by indigenous cultures=== The large leaves were used in various ways by the indigenous people of northern Australia; they could hold food, and when heated, they were given to relieve headaches and aches in limbs. The stems could be used to make Macassan pipes.<ref name=Lev81>{{cite book |title= Plants and People: Aboriginal Uses of Plants on Groote Eylandt |last=Levitt |first=Dulcie |year=1981 |publisher=Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies |location=Canberra |isbn=0-391-02205-9}}</ref> The flowers were used to scent coconut oil on the Cook Islands, and the wood for dwellings and canoes.<ref name=Bishop/> Amongst the Marshallese people of Kwajalein, the plant is regarded as possessing spiritual power.
===Cultivation=== A very useful plant for seaside planting in tropical climates, ''Guettarda speciosa'' needs a sunny aspect and well-drained soil. It has proven difficult to propagate, as this must be done by seed which may take months to germinate.<ref name=enc/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{Commons category-inline}} *{{Wikispecies inline}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q772689}}
speciosa Category:Flora of Queensland Category:Flora of Ashmore and Cartier Islands Category:Flora of Kenya Category:Flora of Tanzania Category:Flora of Indo-China Category:Flora of Malesia Category:Flora of Papuasia Category:Flora of the Pacific Category:Gentianales of Australia Category:Plants described in 1753 Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Category:Flora of Tonga