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

Antiaropsis decipiens K.Schum.

Die Flora von Kaiser Wilhelms Land 40 (1889)

Family: Moraceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Non-timber species

Field Characters: Small sub-canopy tree (12-20 m high); Bole cylindrical (to slightly fluted, up to 50 cm diam.); straight (bole up to c. 8 m long); buttresses buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark grey or brown, smooth or slightly rough, pustular, lenticels elongated vertically or sometimes lenticels elongated laterally; Subrhytidome (under-bark) yellow or orange; less than 25 mm thick, 10.0-20.0; bark blaze with two layers; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze yellow or orange, markings absent; inner blaze white or yellow, markings absent; bark exudate (sap) present, white/milky or slightly yellow, flowing, colour not changing on exposure to air, sticky; terminal buds not enclosed by leaves.

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

Leaves: Leaves spaced along 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 at or near middle, 7.0-18.0 cm, 2.5-7.0 cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, acuminate to long-tapering, venation pinnate, secondary veins open, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface dull pale green, upper surface green (glossy), indumentum (hairs) absent or present when immature, indumentum (hairs) sparse (hairs short and appressed); absent; domatia absent; stipules present, free, laterally placed, not encircling the twig, narrow leafy, not fringed, large, not persistent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary, flowers on an unbranched axis, cones absent; flowers unisexual, unisexual with male and female flowers on the same plant, not stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 8.0-10.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.); perianth present, with all sepals and/or petals (hence tepals) similar, inner perianth red (involucral bracts) or cream-coloured; 4, all joined; stamens 4, absent, free of each other, free of the perianth; ovary superior, carpels solitary, locules 1; styles solitary, 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on unbranched axis, fruit 10.0 (c.) mm long, 10.0 (c.) mm diam., white or cream-coloured, not spiny, fleshy, simple or multiple (by misinterpretation many separate fruits forming a fleshy globular cluster), indehiscent, achene or drupe; seeds 1, to about 5 mm long, not winged, narrow (longer than wide), seed 1-10 mm diam.

Distribution: West Sepik, East Sepik, Madang, Morobe, Eastern Highlands & Western.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

Notes: Notes Antiaropsis decipiens K.Schum. var. parviflorum Diels which has narrower and shorter leaves, is known from Kassam Pass, Eastern Highlands.