Barry Conn (NSW) & Kipiro Damas (LAE).
Guide to trees of Papua New Guinea
Copyright held by the authors, National Herbarium of New South Wales, and Papua New Guinea National Herbarium

Endospermum medullosum L.S.Sm.

Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland Vol. 58: 53 (1947)

Family: Euphorbiaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Major exportable hardwood Tradename: PNG Basswood

Field Characters: Occasionally Emergent tree or Large canopy tree (up to 45 m high); Bole markedly fluted (45-100 cm diam.); crooked or straight (bole up to 25 m long); buttresses buttresses present; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark white to grey, slightly rough or smooth, scaly or flaky; Subrhytidome (under-bark) green; less than 25 mm thick, 20.0-25.0; bark blaze with two layers; strongly aromatic; pleasant; outer blaze yellow (cream-coloured) or pale brown, markings absent, slightly fibrous or granular with splinters; inner blaze yellow (cream-coloured) or pale brown, markings absent, sometimes fibrous or granular with splinters; bark exudate (sap) present, colourless, not readily flowing (spotty), colour not changing on exposure to air, not sticky; terminal buds enclosed by leaves.

Indumentum: Complex hairs absent; stinging hairs present; mature twig indumentum (hairs) absent.

Leaves: Leaves clustered at end of branches, spiral (leaves occurring singly at a node and arranged spirally up the branchlet), simple (a leaf composed of a single blade); petiole present, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade, not swollen; leaves broadest below middle, 25.0 (c.) cm, 20.0 (c.) cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, obtuse, venation pinnate, secondary veins open, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface dull green or grey, upper surface green (glossy), indumentum (hairs) present, indumentum (hairs) dense or sparse (hairs fine); present (with 2 rounded glands on petiole near base of leaf lamina); domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary, flowers on a branched axis, cones absent; flowers unisexual, unisexual with male and female flowers on the same plant, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 2.0-3.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.) (c. 1 mm diam.); perianth present, with all sepals and/or petals (hence tepals) similar or petals absent, inner perianth white or yellow (pale (calyx); stamens 100, present (of varying lengths), joined (variously joined to form a central column); ovary superior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 1; styles absent.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on branched axis, fruit 6.0 (c.) mm long, green or grey, not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, drupe; seeds 1, to about 5 mm long, not winged, broad (as wide as long), seed 1-10 mm diam. (4-5 mm diam.).

Distribution: West Sepik, East Sepik, Madang, Morobe, Western, Gulf, Northern, Milne Bay, New Britain, Manus & Bougainville.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

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