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

Cryptocarya albida Kosterm.

Reinwardtia Vol. 6: 283 (1962)

Family: Lauraceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Non-timber species

Field Characters: Small sub-canopy tree (up to c. 20 m high); Bole cylindrical (up to c. 20 cm diam.); straight (bole c. 10 m long); buttresses buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark brown or grey; Subrhytidome (under-bark) green; less than 25 mm thick; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze pale orange or yellow (pale (straw-coloured), markings absent; inner blaze yellow (pale (straw-coloured) or pale orange, markings absent; bark exudate (sap) absent; terminal buds not enclosed by leaves.

Indumentum: Complex hairs absent; stinging hairs absent; mature twig indumentum (hairs) present, hairs sparse to dense (with yellowish hairs).

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, 10.0-19.0 cm, 6.5-11.0 cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, acuminate (shortly), venation pinnate, secondary veins open, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface pale green to blue-green, upper surface dark green (glossy), indumentum (hairs) present (lower surface covered with pale brown hairs) to absent (upper surface glabrescent), indumentum (hairs) dense to sparse; absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary, flowers on a branched axis, cones absent; flowers bisexual, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry; perianth present, with all sepals and/or petals (hence tepals) similar, inner perianth presumably cream-coloured or presumably white; 3 (outer perianth 3 + inner perianth 3), free; stamens 9 (presumably), present, free of each other, free of the perianth; ovary superior, carpels solitary, locules 1; styles solitary, 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on branched axis, fruit 15.0 (c.) mm long, 10.0 (c.) mm diam., green (dark (with brown lenticels - fruit possibly immature), not spiny, slightly fleshy, simple, indehiscent, drupe; seeds 1, about 10 mm long, not winged, broad (as wide as long), seed 1-10 mm diam. (c. 8 mm diam.).

Distribution: Eastern Highlands or Central.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

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Notes: Notes The taxonomic status of this species is very inadequately known.