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

Castanopsis acuminatissima (Bl.) A.DC.

Journal of Botany Vol. 1: 182 (1863)

Other Literature: E. Soepadmo, Flora Malesiana, Series 1, 307-309 (1972) Fig. 13.

Family: Fagaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Major exportable hardwood Tradename: PNG Oak

Field Characters: Large canopy tree (up to 40 m high); Bole markedly fluted (c. 100 cm diam.); straight; buttresses sometimes buttresses present or buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark grey or pale brown, rough, fissured and cracked and pustular, lenticels rounded/swelling; Subrhytidome (under-bark) red; less than 25 mm thick (c. 5 mm), 20.0-25.0; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; pleasant; outer blaze red or pale brown, markings absent, fibrous; inner blaze red or pale brown, markings absent, fibrous or granular without splinters; bark exudate (sap) present, colourless, not readily flowing (spotty), colour not changing on exposure to air, not sticky; 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 occasionally broadest at or near middle or broadest below middle, 9.0-11.5 cm, 2.5-3.5 cm; symmetric, entire or serrate to dentate (toothed) (occasionally a few teeth only), not dissected or lobed, acuminate, venation pinnate, secondary veins open, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface pale green or brown, upper surface 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 or rarely on the trunk or branches, 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, 5.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.); perianth present, with all sepals and/or petals (hence tepals) similar (scale-like), inner perianth pale yellow, green, or brown (pale fawn-coloured); 8-(approximately)-10, free; stamens 10-12, present, free of each other, free of the perianth; ovary superior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 3; styles absent (3 stigmas).

Fruits: Infrutescence arising from single point, fruit 10.0 (c.) mm long, brown, not spiny (because of hardened scales), non-fleshy, simple, indehiscent, nut; seeds 1, to about 5 mm long or about 10 mm long, not winged, broad (as wide as long), seed 1-10 mm diam.

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

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

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