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

Bridelia penangiana Hook.f. var. penangiana

The Flora of British India Vol. 5: 272 (1887)

Family: Phyllanthaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Minor hardwood

Field Characters: Large canopy tree (20-25 m high) or Small sub-canopy tree; Bole cylindrical (30-38 cm diam.); straight (bole up to c. 10 m long); buttresses buttresses absent; spines spines present or spines absent; on trunk; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark grey or brown, slightly rough, slightly scaly or flaky or slightly fissured; Subrhytidome (under-bark) orange or red; less than 25 mm thick, 6.0-10.0; bark blaze with two layers; faintly to non-aromatic; pleasant; outer blaze orange or red, markings absent, fibrous; inner blaze white (cream-coloured), markings absent, fibrous; bark exudate (sap) present; terminal buds not 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, not swollen; leaves broadest at or near middle or broadest below middle, 17.0-18.0 cm, 8.0-10.0 cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, sub acute or slightly acuminate, venation pinnate, secondary veins open, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface green, upper surface dark green (glossy), indumentum (hairs) absent; absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary, flowers arising from a single point, cones absent; flowers unisexual, unisexual with male and female flowers on the same plant, not stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 2.0 (c.) mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.) (c. 2 mm diam.); perianth present, with all sepals and/or petals (hence tepals) similar or petals absent, inner perianth yellow (pale (sepals) or cream-coloured; 4 (sepals) (-5), some or partly joined (sepals at base); stamens 4, present, joined (joined into a central column), free of the perianth; ovary superior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 3; styles solitary, 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence arising from single point, fruit 6.0-8.0 mm long, orange (with red dots) or red, not spiny, non-fleshy or slightly fleshy, simple, dehiscent, capsule; seeds 3-6, to about 5 mm long (2-3 mm long), not winged, narrow (longer than wide), seed 1-10 mm diam. (1-2 mm diam.).

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

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

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