Fauna
Plant

Pencil Cedar

Polyscias murrayi

Also known as Celerywood, Celery Wood, Umbrella Tree

Celerywood is a fast-growing pioneer tree that quickly colonizes forest gaps, roadsides, and cleared slopes across eastern Australian rainforests. Young trees shoot straight upward with an unbranched trunk topped by a palm-like rosette of massive pinnate leaves that emit a strong celery fragrance when crushed. As it matures into a canopy tree, it produces immense panicles of small purple drupes that sustain a wide variety of fruit-eating rainforest birds.

RainforestNative TreePioneer Species
Pencil Cedar reference1 / 7
(c) Samuel Frankel, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Samuel Frankel · cc-by
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Least ConcernConservation statusIUCN Red List categoriesLCNTVUENCREWEXLeast ConcernRed List categories, explained →
Key facts
Diet & preyAutotrophic (photosynthetic)
Predators
  • Caterpillars of emperor moths
  • Brushtail possum
ThreatsLand clearing, invasive weed competition, and intense bushfires
HabitatsSubtropical and warm-temperate rainforest margins, gullies, and disturbed clearings
Life span30–60 years
Classification
  1. FamilyAraliaceae
  2. SpeciesPolyscias murrayi
Range & activity
Range data is not available yet.
Safe observation
Interaction riskLow
  1. Low
  2. Moderate
  3. High
  4. Very high
Why interaction risk is low
Wild berries have toxic look-alikes; never eat based on app identification alone.
Responsible observation
  • Scent Identification: Gently crush fallen leaf fragments to detect a crisp aroma of fresh celery.
  • Bird Spotting: Search the crown during autumn and winter for frugivores feeding on the fruit clusters.
  • Canopy Clues: Look for single slender trunks topped by umbrella whorls along logging tracks and light gaps.
Related species
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