Myrtaceae FAMILY

Backhousia bancroftii

Edibility

0/5

Medicinal

0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Tree

Growth—

Backhousia bancroftii is a plant of lowland rainforests in northeast Australia. Species in this genus generally prefer a moist but well-drained fertile soil and a position in full sun^[1].

Propagation

Seed - it is difficult to germinate^[2]. Surface sow onto a moist medium, standing the seed tray in almost half its depth of clean water and maintain a temperature around 16 - 18c^[1]. Seedlings take about 12 months to develop fully. When seedlings are about 5mm tall, remove the tray from the water, leave for 4 - 5 days and then prick the seedlings out into individual containers^[1]. Cuttings of semi-ripe wood with a heel^[1]. Slow to make roots^[2]. Small lower branches often touch the ground and form roots. These can be severed from the parent plant, and planted elsewhere^[3]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-19. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Backhousia+bancroftii>

Pollinators

Insects

References

[1]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
[2]Australian Native Plants Society — http://anpsa.org.au/index.html ↩︎A series of fact sheets on Australian plants. Good photographs, brief description and information on uses, habitat, range, cultivation etc.
[3]Growing Native Plants — Australian National Botanic Gardens · http://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/ ↩︎A series of articles giving details of cultivation and matters of general interest (including a few plant uses) on over 250 Australian plants.
[4]Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants — http://www.anbg.gov.au/cpbr/cd-keys/rfk/index.html ↩︎An online resource giving botanical information, and a little bit about plant usage, for over 2,700 species of plants found in the Australian rainforest.
[5]The Useful Native Plants of Australia. — Maiden J.H. · Turner & Co.; London. · 1889 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org ↩︎Terse details of the uses of many Australian plants and other species naturalised, or at least growing, in Australia. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
[6]Australian Timber handbook — Wallis N.K. · Angus & Robertson; Sydney · 1970 · ISBN 0-207-12053-6 ↩︎A comprehensive book about the uses of timber in Australia, it includes a section with information on the properties of the more commonly used woods in Australia