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

Dillenia schlechteri Diels

Botanische Jahrbucher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie Vol. 57: 438 (1922)

Other Literature: R.D. Hoogland, Flora Malesiana, Series 1, 161 (1951)

Family: Dilleniaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Occasional timber species

Field Characters: Large canopy tree (up to 35 m high) or Small sub-canopy tree; Bole cylindrical (up to 200 cm diam.); straight (bole 7-15 m long); buttresses buttresses present (buttresses up to 3 m high); spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark red or brown, rough, scaly or flaky; Subrhytidome (under-bark) red (pale (pink); less than 25 mm thick; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze pink or pale brown, with stripes; inner blaze pink or pale brown, with stripes; bark exudate (sap) present, colourless, flowing, 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) present or absent, hairs dense.

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 or winged when young, attached to base of leaf blade, not swollen; leaves broadest at or near middle or broadest below middle, 11.0-30.0 cm, 7.5-21.0 cm; symmetric (rounded to very slightly cordate), serrate to dentate (toothed) (shortly), not dissected or lobed, rounded, venation pinnate (with 13-21 vein-pairs), secondary veins open, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface dull pale green, upper surface dull dark green, indumentum (hairs) absent or present, indumentum (hairs) dense or sparse; absent; domatia absent (when leaves glabrous) or present, scattered along midrib; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary, flowers on an unbranched axis, cones absent; flowers bisexual, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 25.0-33.0 mm long, diameter large (more than10 mm diam.); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls (petals not persistent), inner perianth bright yellow; 5, free; stamens 100 (c. (pale yellow), present, free of each other, free of the perianth; ovary superior, carpels separate (when more than one) or partially joined, by base (styles free), locules 8-11; styles free, 8-11.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on unbranched axis, fruit 25.0 (c.) mm long, not spiny, non-fleshy, aggregate, dehiscent, follicle (Each carpel of the flower for a 1-seeded follicle); seeds 8-11, to about 5 mm long (c. 4 mm long), not winged, broad (as wide as long), seed 1-10 mm diam. (c. 4 mm diam.).

Distribution: East Sepik, Morobe, Western Highlands, Eastern Highlands, Central, Northern & New Ireland.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

Notes: Notes This species is morphologically very similar to Dillenia papuana and Dillenia montana. Refer to D. papuana for notes on the bark features, leaf venation, petiole wings and anther appendages of these three species.