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

Ascarina philippinensis C.B.Rob.

Philippine Journal of Science Vol. 4: 70 (1909)

Family: Chloranthaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Non-timber species

Field Characters: Large canopy tree (7-24 m high) or Small sub-canopy tree; Bole cylindrical (35-40 cm diam., rarely to 60 cm.); straight (bole 6-10 m long); buttresses buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark brownish grey or brown, rough, strongly fissured; Subrhytidome (under-bark) pale orange; less than 25 mm thick; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze yellowish white, yellow, or pale orange, markings absent, fibrous; inner blaze yellowish white, yellow, or pale orange, 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, opposite (in pairs, opposite one another on the branchlet), simple (a leaf composed of a single blade); petiole present (shortly petiolate), not winged, attached to base of leaf blade, not swollen; leaves broadest at or near middle, (4.0-) 5.5-8.0 cm, (2.5-) 3.0-4.0 cm; symmetric, entire (often at base) or crenate (distally or throughout), not dissected or lobed, obtuse, venation pinnate, secondary veins open, not prominent, but visible, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface green, upper surface dark green, indumentum (hairs) absent; absent; domatia absent; stipules present (as ridge between petioles), joined, joined across twigs, encircling the twig, collar-like, not fringed, large, persistent.

Flowers: Inflorescence terminal, flowers on a branched axis, cones absent; flowers unisexual, unisexual with male and female flowers on different plants, not stalked, flowers with one plane of symmetry, 1.0-(c. female flowers; male flowers)-2.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.) (c. 1 mm diam.); perianth absent; stamens 1, absent, free of each other; ovary superior (with 2 small bracts at base; sepals and petals absent), carpels solitary, locules 1; styles absent (in female flowers: stigma sessile and irregular).

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on branched axis, fruit 5.0-8.0 mm long, almost black or purple, not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, drupe (with bracts present); seeds 1, to about 5 mm long (3-4 mm long), not winged, broad (as wide as long), seed 1-10 mm diam. (4-5 mm diam.).

Distribution: West Sepik, East Sepik, Morobe, Western Highlands, Eastern Highlands, Southern Highlands, Western, Central, Milne Bay & New Britain.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

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