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

Elaeocarpus pycnanthus A.C.Sm.

Botanische Jahrbucher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie Vol. 54: 136 (1916)

Other Literature: M.J.E. Coode, Handbooks of the Flora of Papua New Guinea 144-145 (1981)

Family: Elaeocarpaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Commercial hardwood

Field Characters: Large canopy tree (13-26 m high) or Small sub-canopy tree; Bole cylindrical (up to c. 75 cm diam.); straight (bole up to c. 10 m long); buttresses buttresses present or buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark grey or dark brown, rough, fissured or pustular, lenticels irregular; Subrhytidome (under-bark) yellow, green, red, or brown; less than 25 mm thick, 6.0-8.0; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze white (straw-coloured) or pale brown, markings absent, fibrous; inner blaze white (straw-coloured) or pale brown, markings absent, fibrous; bark exudate (sap) absent; terminal buds not enclosed by leaves.

Indumentum: Complex hairs absent; stinging hairs absent; mature twig indumentum (hairs) present (when young (hairs minute) or later absent, hairs dense to sparse.

Leaves: Leaves clustered at end of 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 to broadest below middle, 11.0-16.0 cm, 5.8-7.5 cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, obtuse and acuminate, venation pinnate, secondary veins open, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface green, upper surface dark green (sub-glossy), indumentum (hairs) present, indumentum (hairs) dense to sparse; absent; domatia absent; stipules absent to present, free, laterally placed, not encircling the twig, leafy (narrow), not fringed, small (c. 3 mm long), not persistent (stipules usually dropping before leaves expand).

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary (arranged above the leaves), flowers on an unbranched axis, cones absent; flowers bisexual, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 4.5-5.5 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth dull yellow; 5, free; stamens 30 (c.), present, free of each other, free of the perianth; ovary superior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 2; styles solitary, 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on unbranched axis, fruit 7.0 (immature) mm long, blue or grey, not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, drupe; seeds 1, about 10 mm long (including stone), not winged, broad (as wide as long), seed 1-10 mm diam.

Distribution: West Sepik, Morobe, Western Highlands, Eastern Highlands & Southern Highlands.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

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