# Orites excelsus

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***Orites excelsus***, commonly known as **prickly ash**, **mountain silky oak** or **white beefwood**,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family [Proteaceae](/source/Proteaceae) and is [endemic](/source/Endemism) to eastern Australia. It is a medium-sized to tall rainforest tree with oblong to lance-shaped leaves, variously lobed and with teeth on the edges. The flowers are white and arranged in leaf axils in spikes that are shorter than the leaves.

## Description

*Orites excelsus* is a tree that typically grows to a height of up to 30 m (98 ft) with more or less smooth brown or grey bark, often with minute scales, and new shoots are covered with rust-coloured hairs at first. The leaves are elliptic, lance-shaped, egg-shaped or oblong, 40–185 mm long and 15–45 mm wide on a [petiole](/source/Petiole_(botany)) 10–25 mm long. They are usually lobed, usually have teeth regularly arranged along the edges, shiny green on the upper surface and grey to whitish below. The flowers are white or creamy-white, fragrant, about 6 mm (0.24 in) long and are arranged in leaf axils along a [rachis](/source/Rachis#In_botany) 50–110 mm long. Flowering occurs from winter to early spring and the [follicles](/source/Follicle_(fruit)) are boat-shaped, 20–30 mm long and 8–10 mm wide.[2][3]

## Taxonomy

*Orites excelsus* was first formally described in 1830 by [Robert Brown](/source/Robert_Brown_(botanist,_born_1773)) in *[Supplementum primum Prodromi florae Novae Hollandiae](/source/Supplementum_primum_Prodromi_florae_Novae_Hollandiae)* from specimens collected by [Charles Fraser](/source/Charles_Fraser_(botanist)) near the Hastings River in 1818.[4][5]

[Frederick Manson Bailey](/source/Frederick_Manson_Bailey) described *Orites fragrans* from [Mounts Bellenden Ker](/source/Mount_Bellenden_Ker) and [Bartle Frere](/source/Mount_Bartle_Frere), now accepted as an [isonym](/source/Isonym) of *O. excelsus*.[6]

Fossils of lobed leaves closely resembling juvenile leaves of *O. excelsus* have been recovered from the early to middle Eocene [Taratu Formation](/source/Taratu_Formation) near [Livingstone](/source/Livingstone,_Canterbury) in northern Otago, New Zealand. They have been provisionally classified as close to this species, though a resemblance to *[Athertonia diversifolia](/source/Athertonia_diversifolia)* has been noted.[7]

## Distribution and habitat

*Orites excelsus* is found in cool mountain rainforests from [Barrington Tops](/source/Barrington_Tops) in New South Wales to [Main Range National Park](/source/Main_Range_National_Park), south-west of [Brisbane](/source/Brisbane), Queensland, at altitudes above 750 m (2,460 ft). It also occurs on a number of mountains in [Far North Queensland](/source/Far_North_Queensland), including [Mount Bellenden Ker](/source/Mount_Bellenden_Ker) and [Mount Bartle Frere](/source/Mount_Bartle_Frere), from 1000 to 1500 m.[2] It is associated with yellow carabeen (*[Sloanea woollsii](/source/Sloanea_woollsii)*).[8]

## Uses

The timber of prickly ash has been used for shingles, casks, furniture and joinery.[2]

## References

1. ["*Orites excelsus*"](https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/202005). Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 29 September 2020.

1. George, A.S. & Hyland, B.P.M. (2025). ["*Orites excelsus* R.Br."](https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Orites%20excelsus). *Flora of Australia*. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 5 March 2026.

1. Gwen Harden. ["*Orites excelsus*"](https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Orites~excelsus). Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 29 September 2020.

1. ["*Orites excelsus*"](https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/609618). APNI. Retrieved 29 September 2020.

1. Brown, Robert (1830). [*Supplementum primum Prodromi florae Novae Hollandiae*](https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/77294#page/546/mode/1up). London: Typis R. Taylor,1830. p. 32. Retrieved 29 September 2020.

1. ["*Orites fragrans*"](https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/729941). APNI. Retrieved 29 September 2020.

1. Pole, Mike (1994). "An Eocene Macroflora from the Taratu Formation at Livingstone, North Otago, New Zealand". *Australian Journal of Botany*. **42** (3): 341–67. [doi:10.1071/BT9940341](https://doi.org/10.1071/BT9940341)

1. Boland, Douglas J.; Brooker, M. I. H.; Chippendale, G. M.; McDonald, Maurice William (2006). [*Forest trees of Australia*](https://books.google.com/books?id=CRQg11hSJ1kC&q=%22Orites+excelsa%22&pg=PA102). Collingwood, Victoria: CSIRO Publishing. p. 102. ISBN 0-643-06969-0.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Orites excelsus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orites_excelsus) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orites_excelsus?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.