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

Erythroxylum ecarinatum Hochr.

Plantae Bogorienses Exsiccatae (1904)

Other Literature: B.J. Conn & K. Kerenga, Handbooks of the Flora of Papua New Guinea Vol. 3: 58-60 (1995) Fig. 12.

Family: Erythroxylaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Non-timber species

Field Characters: Large canopy tree (up to 25 m high, rarely to 37 m) or Small sub-canopy tree; Bole cylindrical (up to 40 cm diam.); straight (bole 12-27 m long); buttresses buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark grey or brown, slightly rough or smooth, somewhat scaly or flaky or slightly fissured; Subrhytidome (under-bark) pale red; less than 25 mm thick; bark blaze with two layers; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze pink or red, markings absent, fibrous; inner blaze white or yellow (pale (cream-coloured), markings absent, smooth; bark exudate (sap) present, colourless, not readily flowing (spotty), colour changing on exposure to air, to pale brown, sticky; 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 at or near middle or slightly equally broad throughout much of length, (3.5-) 7.0-10.0 (-17.0) cm, (1.0-) 2.0-4.0 (-5.0) cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, acuminate, venation pinnate, secondary veins open, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface pale green, upper surface dark dark green or green, indumentum (hairs) absent; absent; domatia absent; stipules present, joined, laterally placed, not encircling the twig, leafy, not fringed, large, not persistent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary, flowers arising from a single point, cones absent; flowers bisexual, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry or slightly asymmetric, 3.0-4.0 (-5.0) 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; 5, some or partly joined; stamens 5, present, joined, free of the perianth; ovary superior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 1; styles absent.

Fruits: Infrutescence arising from single point, fruit 6.0-9.0 mm long, red, not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, drupe; seeds 1, about 10 mm long, not winged, broad (as wide as long), seed 1-10 mm diam. (c. 6 mm diam.).

Distribution: Madang, Morobe, Western Highlands, Eastern Highlands, Southern Highlands, Western, Gulf, Central, Northern, Milne Bay, Papuan Islands, New Britain, New Ireland & Bougainville.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

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