Cryptocarya foetida is a rainforest

Rainforest

Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...

 tree growing at the eastern coastal parts of Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. The common name is due to the allegedly offensive odour given by the flowers. The Stinking Cryptocarya or Stinking Laurel is considered vulnerable

Vulnerable species

On 30 January 2010, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 9694 Vulnerable species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and sub-populations.-References:...

 to extinction

Extinction

In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...

 with a ROTAP

ROTAP

Rare or Threatened Australian Plants, usually abbreviated to ROTAP, is a list of rare or threatened Australian plant taxa. Developed and maintained by the CSIRO, the most recent edition lists 5031 taxa. The list uses a binary coding system based on the IUCN Red List categories for "Presumed...

 rating of 3VC.

Habitat

Growing on littoral

Littoral

The littoral zone is that part of a sea, lake or river that is close to the shore. In coastal environments the littoral zone extends from the high water mark, which is rarely inundated, to shoreline areas that are permanently submerged. It always includes this intertidal zone and is often used to...

 rainforest

Rainforest

Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...

 on sand between Iluka

Iluka

Iluka may refer to* Iluka, New South Wales - a town on the north coast of New South Wales in Australia* Iluka, Western Australia - a suburb of Perth* Iluka Resources - an Australian mining company...

, New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

 and Fraser Island in Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

. Much of the habitat of Cryptocarya foetida was destroyed by repeated burnings and clearing for seaside housing and development.

Description

Cryptocarya foetida is a small or medium sized tree up to 20 metres tall and 20 cm in diameter with a dark green crown.

The trunk is greyish brown, slightly fissured, cylindrical, not buttressed but slightly flanged at the base.

Leaves are typical of many Australian laurels. Alternate, simple, not toothed, ovate to ovate lanceolate, smooth, thick and shiny with a trasparent margin, tapering to a blunt point. 8 to 13 cm long by 4 to 5 cm broad. The yellowish venation is conspicuous, particularly on the underside.

Cream flowers appear in summer. The fruit matures in winter, being purplish/black globular drupe

Drupe

In botany, a drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a shell of hardened endocarp with a seed inside. These fruits develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovaries...

, around 8 to 10 mm in diameter. Like most Australian Cryptocarya

Cryptocarya

Cryptocarya is a genus of evergreen trees belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. The genus includes more than 350 species, distributed through the Neotropic, Afrotropic, Indomalaya, and Australasia ecozones.-Overview:...

fruit, removal of the fleshy aril

Aril

An aril is any specialized outgrowth from the funiculus that covers or is attached to the seed. It is sometimes applied to any appendage or thickening of the seed coat in flowering plants, such as the edible parts of the mangosteen and pomegranate fruit, the mace of the nutmeg seed, or the...

is advised to assist seed germination.