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

Dysoxylum inopinatum (Harms) Mabb.

Blumea Vol. 31 (1): 131 (1985)

Other Literature: D.J. Mabberley & A.M. Sing, Flora Malesiana, Series 1 97-98 (1995)

Family: Meliaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Occasional timber species

Field Characters: Large canopy tree (15-30 m high) or Small sub-canopy tree; Bole cylindrical (up to 90 cm diam.); straight (bole up to 20 m long); buttresses buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark grey (dark mottled) or brown, rough, scaly or flaky or fissured; Subrhytidome (under-bark) dark red or brown; less than 25 mm thick, 10.0; bark blaze consisting of one layer; strongly aromatic; onion-like; outer blaze pale red or reddish brown, with stripes (pale), fibrous; inner blaze pale red or brown (reddish (slightly paler than outer blaze), with stripes (pale), fibrous; bark exudate (sap) present, white/milky, 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 (or almost so).

Leaves: Leaves spaced along branches, spiral (leaves occurring singly at a node and arranged spirally up the branchlet), compound (a leaf made up from two or more leaflets); petiole present, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade, not swollen; leaves pinnate (unbranched with more than three leaflets); petiolule not swollen; rachis present, absent, absent; leaves without a terminal leaflet (the number of leaflets even - paripinnate), broadest at or near middle or equally broad throughout much of length, (4.0-) 10.0-12.0 (-16.0) cm, (2.5-) 5.0-7.0 cm, leaflets opposite, symmetric; venation pinnate, secondary veins open, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface green (young leaves reddish), upper surface dark green, indumentum (hairs) absent; absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary, flowers on a branched axis, cones absent; flowers bisexual, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 7.0-8.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.) (6-8 mm diam.); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth pale green; 5, free; stamens 10, absent or present (but very short), joined (forming a staminal tube), free of the perianth; ovary superior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 4-5; styles solitary, 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on branched axis, fruit 15.0-20.0 mm long, 18.0-20.0 mm diam., red (pale (dark pink), not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, drupe; seeds (4-) 5-10, about 10 mm long (7-8 mm long), not winged, narrow (longer than wide), seed 1-10 mm diam. (c. 5 mm diam.).

Distribution: West Sepik, East Sepik, Morobe, Eastern Highlands & Gulf.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

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