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

Atuna racemosa Raf. subsp. racemosa

Candollea Vol. 10: 135 (1965)

Other Literature: G.T. Prance, Flora Malesiana, Series 1 669 (1989)

Family: Chrysobalanaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Occasional timber species

Field Characters: Large canopy tree (up to 20 m high); Bole cylindrical (30-60 cm diam.); straight (bole 5-10 m long); buttresses buttresses present; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark black, rough or smooth, pustular, lenticels irregular; Subrhytidome (under-bark) dark red; less than 25 mm thick, 6.0; bark blaze consisting of one layer; strongly aromatic; pleasant; outer blaze dark red, with stripes, granular without splinters (brittle); inner blaze dark red, with stripes, granular without splinters (brittle); bark exudate (sap) present, colourless, not readily flowing (spotty), colour not changing on exposure to air; terminal buds enclosed by leaves.

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

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, swollen (both); leaves broadest at or near middle or broadest below middle, 10.0-25.0 cm, 3.5-11.0 cm; slightly symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, acute, venation pinnate, secondary veins open, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface green, upper surface dark green, indumentum (hairs) absent; absent; domatia absent; stipules present, free, laterally placed, not encircling the twig, leafy, not fringed, large, not persistent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary, flowers on a branched axis, cones absent; flowers bisexual, stalked, flowers completely asymmetric, 25.0 mm long, diameter large (more than10 mm diam.) (c. 20 mm diameter); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth white or pale blue; 5, free; stamens 20 (c.), present (bluish purple), free of each other, free of the perianth; ovary superior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 2; styles solitary, 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on branched axis, fruit 60.0-80.0 mm long, 70.0 (c.) mm diam., brown, not spiny, non-fleshy, simple, indehiscent, drupe; seeds 1, about 10 mm long (c. 6 mm long), not winged, broad (as wide as long), seed 1-10 mm diam. (c. 5 mm diam.).

Distribution: Morobe, Western, Milne Bay, Papuan Islands, New Britain, New Ireland, Manus & Bougainville.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

.

Notes: Notes Formerly known as Cyclandrophora laurina (A.Gray) Kosterm., Candollea 20: 135 (1965).