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

Fagraea bodenii Wernham

Transactions of the Linnean Society. Botany Vol. 9: 111 (1916)

Other Literature: B.J. Conn, Handbooks of the Flora of Papua New Guinea 139 (1995) Fig. 29.

Family: Gentianaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Non-timber species

Field Characters: Large canopy tree (occasionally up to 30 m high, rarely to 40 m) or Small sub-canopy tree (up to 15 m high); Bole cylindrical (10-50 cm diam., less frequently to 100 m); straight (bole 8-20 m long, rarely to 30 m); buttresses buttresses present or buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark cream-coloured to grey; less than 25 mm thick; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze white to yellow (pale (cream-coloured), markings absent; inner blaze white to yellow (pale (cream-coloured), markings absent; bark exudate (sap) absent; terminal buds not enclosed by leaves.

Indumentum: Complex hairs absent; stinging hairs absent; mature twig indumentum (hairs) absent.

Leaves: Leaves spaced along branches, opposite (in pairs, opposite one another on the branchlet), simple (a leaf composed of a single blade); petiole present, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade, not swollen; leaves slightly broadest above middle or broadest at or near middle, 5.0-16.0 cm, 2.5-8.0 cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, rounded, obtuse, or slightly mucronate, venation pinnate, secondary veins open, occasionally prominent or not prominent, but visible, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface pale green, upper surface green, indumentum (hairs) absent; absent; domatia absent; stipules present, joined, joined across twigs, encircling the twig, collar-like, not fringed, large, persistent.

Flowers: Inflorescence terminal, flowers on a branched axis, cones absent; flowers bisexual, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 20.0-25.0 (-45.0) mm long, diameter large (more than10 mm diam.) (c. 15 mm diam.); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth green (outer surface) or cream-coloured (inner surface); 5, some or partly joined; stamens 5, present, free of each other, joined to the perianth; ovary superior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 2; styles solitary, 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on branched axis, fruit 40.0 (c.) mm long, yellow, orange, or red, not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, berry; seeds 100 (c.), barely visible (to 1 mm long) (c. 1 mm long), not winged, irregular (irregularly angular), seed 1-10 mm diam. (c. 1 mm diam.).

Distribution: West Sepik, Morobe, Southern Highlands, Western, Gulf, Central, Milne Bay & Bougainville.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details