Barry Conn (NSW) & Kipiro Damas (LAE).
Copyright held by the authors, Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, and Papua New Guinea National Herbarium

Carpodetus arboreus (K.Schum. & Lauterb.) Schltr.

Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie Vol. 52: 136 (1914)

Field Characters: Small trees 5-10(-30) m high or large trees. Bole cylindrical 20-35 cm diam.; straight bole 7-20 m long; buttresses usually present or sometimes absent; spines absent; aerial roots absent; stilt roots absent. Bark brown or brownish grey, rough, pustular or slightly tessellated sometimes; lenticels elongated vertically; subrhytidome green; bark thickness <25 mm thick, 3.0-5.0 mm thick; blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; faintly unpleasant slightly fruity; outer blaze pale orange or pale brown, with stripes, fibrous; inner blaze pale orange or pale brown, with stripes, fibrous; exudate present, colourless, spotty, changing colour on exposure to air, to pale brown or pale orange, not sticky. Terminal buds not enclosed by leaves; complex hairs absent; stinging hairs absent; mature twig hairy; somewhat hairs dense or hairs sparse.

Leaves: Spaced along branches <internodes readily visible>. Leaves spiral, simple; petiole present 9-25 mm long, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade <not peltate>, not swollen; lamina sometimes broadest below middle or broadest at or near middle, 10.0-20.0 cm long, 5.5-11.5 cm wide; lamina symmetric, margin crenate or shortly serrate to dentate (toothed), not dissected or lobed, apex acuminate, venation pinnate <secondary veins arising from the midrib along its length>, secondary veins open <spaced far apart to easily see tertiary veins>, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; lower surface pale green, upper surface glossy dark green, hairs present, somewhat dense or sparse; oil dots absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary <from between a leaf and branch>. Flowers on a branched axis; flowers bisexual pleasantly aromatic, shortly stalked pedicel up to 1 mm long, with many planes of symmetry <actinomorphic>, 1.5-2.0 mm long, small (< or =10 mm diam.) about 2 mm diam.; perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals sepals minute, greenish white; inner perianth 4, free; stamens 4, filaments absent, free of each other, free of perianth; ovary partly inferior <perigenous>, carpels joined (when more than one) <syncarpous>, locules 2-4; styles solitary <including joined together>, 1.

Fruits: Fruits arranged on branched axis. Fruit 6-10 mm long, 6.0-10.0 mm diam., fruit grey when immature, brown, or dark purple, not spiny, non-fleshy, simple, partly dehiscent, capsule. Seeds 100, barely visible (to 1 mm long) about 1.5 mm long, not winged, longer than wide, < 1 mm diam. 0.5-1 mm diam.

Distribution: West Sepik, Western Highlands, Milne Bay, Eastern Highlands & Morobe.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

Notes: This genus has been classified in the Escalloniaceae or Grossulariaceae.