About Notelaea microcarpa R.Br.
Notelaea microcarpa R.Br. is a species of bush or small crooked tree in the olive family, native to eastern Australia. Two varieties are currently recognised: var. microcarpa, commonly called the velvet mock olive, and var. velutina, commonly known as the gorge mock olive. The species generally grows in the understorey of eucalyptus woodland, occurring from north of the Hunter Region in New South Wales northwards into Queensland. It is often found on rocky sites, growing in association with white box. The gorge mock olive (var. velutina) typically occurs in drier fire-free gully rainforests in northern New South Wales. This variety can reach up to ten metres tall, growing at altitudes between 500 and 700 metres above sea level. Confirmed recorded sites for the gorge mock olive include Oxley Wild Rivers National Park and Chaelundi National Park. This species was first formally published in scientific literature in 1810, in Robert Brown’s work Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae. Robert Brown was a prolific Scottish botanist, who authored the original scientific description of this species.
