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 womersleyi Weibel

Candollea Vol. 26: 374 (1971)

Other Literature: M.J.E. Coode, Handbooks of the Flora of Papua New Guinea (1981) Fig. 25.

Family: Elaeocarpaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Commercial hardwood

Field Characters: Large canopy tree (up to 34 m high); Bole cylindrical (up to c. 50 cm diam.); slightly crooked or straight (bole up to c. 15 m long); buttresses buttresses present (sometimes buttresses up to c. 1.5 m high) or buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark grey, slightly rough, fissured; Subrhytidome (under-bark) pale yellow or orange; less than 25 mm thick, 6.0-8.0; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze pale yellow, pale orange, or pink, markings absent, slightly granular without splinters; inner blaze pale yellow, pale orange, or pink, markings absent, slightly granular without splinters; bark exudate (sap) absent; terminal buds not enclosed by leaves.

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

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 or often swollen; leaves broadest above middle or sometimes broadest at or near middle, 10.0-15.0 (-18.0) cm, 4.0-8.0 cm; symmetric, entire or slightly serrate to dentate (toothed), not dissected or lobed, acute, venation pinnate, secondary veins open, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface green, upper surface dark green, indumentum (hairs) absent; absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary, flowers on an unbranched axis, cones absent; flowers bisexual, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 25.0-38.0 mm long, diameter large (more than10 mm diam.); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth white (cream-coloured); 5, free; stamens 40 (c.), present, free of each other, free of the perianth; ovary superior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 4 (-5); styles solitary, 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on unbranched axis, fruit 40.0-70.0 mm long, dark green, dark blue, or black, not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, berry; seeds 1 (-2), much more than 10 mm long, not winged, broad (as wide as long), seed more than 10 mm diam.

Distribution: Morobe, Western Highlands, Eastern Highlands, Western, Central, Northern, Milne Bay & Papuan Islands.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

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