Carronia multisepalea (Menispermaceae) Carronia
This uncommon woody climber is largely restricted to the remnants of the Mt Warning shield volcano with disjunct populations in the Blackall Range and Bellthorpe.
There are just three other species in the genus Carronia, two in the Wet Tropics of Queensland and one in New Guinea, indicating a formerly much wider occurrence when rainforests were widespread in Australia.
Around the world, moths belonging to the subfamily Catocalinae feed on members of the Menispermaceae. Carronia multisepalea is the host plant for caterpillars of the endangered southern subspecies of the Pink Underwing Moth ( Phyllodes imperialis). The northern subspecies in the Wet Tropics feeds on another member of the Menispermaceae, Pycnarrhena novoguineensis. |