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

Actinodaphne nitida Teschner

Botanische Jahrbucher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie Vol. 58: 384 (1923)

Family: Lauraceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Non-timber species

Field Characters: Small sub-canopy tree (10-15 m high); Bole cylindrical (up to 30 cm diam.); straight (bole up to c. 10 m long, sometimes up to 18 m); buttresses buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark almost black, green, grey, or brown, slightly rough or smooth, slightly fissured or scattered pustular, lenticels rounded/swelling (lenticels small); Subrhytidome (under-bark) brown; less than 25 mm thick, 6.0-8.0; bark blaze consisting of one layer; strongly aromatic; cinnamon-like; outer blaze pale brown, markings absent, fibrous; inner blaze pale brown, markings absent, fibrous; bark exudate (sap) absent; terminal buds not enclosed by leaves.

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

Leaves: Leaves spaced along branches, whorled (with more than two leaves at one node of a branchlet), 5, simple (a leaf composed of a single blade); petiole present, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade, not swollen; leaves broadest at or near middle, 10.0-30.0 cm, 5.0-10.0 cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, obtuse or slightly acuminate, venation pinnate, secondary veins open, slightly prominent, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface whitish pale green, upper surface dark green (dull to subglossy), indumentum (hairs) absent; absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence on the trunk or branches, flowers on a branched axis, cones absent; flowers bisexual, not stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 2.5-4.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.) (2-3 mm diam.); perianth present, with all sepals and/or petals (hence tepals) similar (densely hairy on outer surface), inner perianth green or cream-coloured; 3 (perianth in 2 whorls/series, with 3 in each whorl), free; stamens 9 (c.), present, free of each other, free of the perianth; ovary superior, carpels solitary, locules 1; styles solitary, 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on branched axis, fruit 10.0 (c.) mm long, 10.0 (c.) mm diam., orange or red, not spiny, slightly fleshy, simple, indehiscent, drupe; seeds 1, about 10 mm long (8-9 mm long), not winged, broad (as wide as long), seed 1-10 mm diam. (8-9 mm diam.).

Distribution: East Sepik, Madang, Morobe, Central, Northern, Milne Bay, Papuan Islands, New Britain, New Ireland & Manus.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

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