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

Carallia brachiata (Lour.) Merr.

Philippine Journal of Science Vol. 15: 249 (1920)

Other Literature: J.J. Havel, Forest Botany, Part 2 Botanical Taxonomy 231 (1975) Fig. 64-65.

Family: Rhizophoraceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Occasional timber species

Field Characters: Large canopy tree (to c. 25 m high, rarely to 35 m) or Small sub-canopy tree; Bole cylindrical (30-60 cm diam.); straight (bole 15-30 m long); buttresses buttresses present or buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots present; Bark brown, rough, pustular, lenticels irregular; Subrhytidome (under-bark) green; less than 25 mm thick, 20.0; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze orange or brown (brownish orange), with stripes, granular with splinters; inner blaze orange or brown (brownish orange), with stripes, granular with splinters; bark exudate (sap) present, colourless, not readily flowing (spotty), colour changing on exposure to air, to brown or black, not sticky; terminal buds 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, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade, not swollen; leaves broadest above middle, usually broadest at or near middle, or occasionally broadest below middle, 9.0-15.0 cm, 4.5-7.0 cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, acuminate (shortly), 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, 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 with many planes of symmetry, 4.0-6.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.) (c. 5 mm diam.); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth yellow, at base red, or green; 5-8, free; stamens 10-16, present (of unequal lengths), free of each other, free of the perianth; ovary inferior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 2; styles solitary, 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on branched axis, fruit 5.0-(5-10 mm diam.)-10.0 mm long, 5.0-10.0 mm diam., red (or pink), not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, berry; seeds 10-20, to about 5 mm long (1-1.5 mm long), not winged, narrow (longer than wide), seed less than 1 mm diam. (c. 0.5 mm diam.).

Distribution: West Sepik, East Sepik, Madang, Morobe, Southern Highlands, Western, Gulf, Central, Northern, Milne Bay, Papuan Islands, New Britain, New Ireland, Manus & Bougainville.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

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