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

Claoxylon muscisilvae Airy Shaw

Kew Bulletin Vol. 21: 377 (1968)

Field Characters: Small trees or large trees 10-25 m high. Bole cylindrical; slightly crooked or straight; buttresses absent; spines absent; aerial roots absent; stilt roots absent. Bark brown, slightly rough or smooth, pustular; lenticels irregular scattered; subrhytidome pale yellow; bark thickness <25 mm thick; blaze consisting of one layer; outer blaze pale brown; inner blaze pale brown. Terminal buds not enclosed by leaves; complex hairs absent; stinging hairs absent; mature twig without hairs or mature twig hairy; hairs sparse.

Leaves: Spaced along branches <internodes readily visible>. Leaves spiral, simple; petiole present 3-10(-12) mm long, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade <not peltate>, not swollen; lamina usually broadest above middle or broadest at or near middle, 3.0-6.0 (-8.0) cm long, 1.2-4.0 cm wide; lamina symmetric, margin entire or finely serrate to dentate (toothed), not dissected or lobed, apex acuminate or sub rounded, 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 green, hairs present, dense; oil dots absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary <from between a leaf and branch>. Flowers on an unbranched axis; flowers unisexual, with male and female flowers on the same plant <monoecious>, flowers shortly stalked, with many planes of symmetry <actinomorphic>, 1.5-4.0 mm long, small (< or =10 mm diam.) 3-4 mm diam.; perianth present, petals absent or with all sepals and/or petals (hence tepals) similar (by misinterpretation); inner perianth 2-(female flowers)-3 (male flowers), free; stamens 30-35 (male flowers), filaments absent, free of each other, free of perianth; ovary superior <seated above petals and sepals; hypogenous>, carpels joined (when more than one) <syncarpous>, locules 2 (female flowers); styles free <more than one style, entirely free from each other>, 2 (female flowers).

Fruits: Fruits arranged on unbranched axis. Fruit 3-5 mm long, 3.0-4.5 mm diam., fruit green probably immature, not spiny, non-fleshy, simple, dehiscent, capsule. To about 5 mm long 3.5-4 mm long, as wide as long, 1-10 mm diam. 3-4.5 mm diam.

Distribution: Eastern Highlands, Western Highlands & Morobe.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details