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

Diospyros hebecarpa Benth.

Flora Australiensis Vol. 4: (1868)

Family: Ebenaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Occasional timber species

Field Characters: Large canopy tree (up to 25 m high) or Small sub-canopy tree; Bole cylindrical (up to c. 42 cm diam.); straight (bole up to 15 m long); buttresses buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark dark grey, brown, or almost black, smooth; Subrhytidome (under-bark) dark brown or black; less than 25 mm thick, 10.0-12.0; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze pale orange or pale brown, markings absent; inner blaze pale orange or pale brown, markings absent; 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 broadest above middle or broadest at or near middle, (7.0-) 11.0-18.0 cm, (4.0-) 5.0-6.0 cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, obtuse, venation pinnate, secondary veins open, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface pale green, upper surface dark green (glossy), indumentum (hairs) present, indumentum (hairs) dense; absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary, flowers single, cones absent; flowers unisexual, unisexual with male and female flowers on different plants, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 10.0-15.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.) (c. 5 mm diam.); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth white or pale yellow; 4, some or partly joined; stamens 4-(male flowers; female flowers with staminodes)-8, present, free of each other, joined to the perianth; ovary superior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 4-6; styles solitary, 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence single, fruit 80.0-120.0 mm long, green (pale (dull), not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, berry; seeds 4-6, much more than 10 mm long, not winged, narrow (longer than wide), seed 1-10 mm diam.

Distribution: West Sepik, Madang, Morobe, Western Highlands, Western, Central, Northern, Milne Bay, Papuan Islands & Bougainville.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

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