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 dolichopoda Gilg & Benedict

Botanische Jahrbucher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie Vol. 54: 196 (1916)

Other Literature: B.J. Conn, Handbooks of the Flora of Papua New Guinea 147-148 (1995) Fig. 32.

Family: Gentianaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Non-timber species

Field Characters: Large canopy tree (up to 30 m high) or Small sub-canopy tree; Bole cylindrical (c. 35 cm diam.); straight; buttresses buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark cream-coloured, grey, or pale brown, rough, fissured; less than 25 mm thick; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze white or yellow (pale (straw-coloured), markings absent, fibrous or granular without splinters; inner blaze white or yellow (pale (straw-coloured), markings absent, fibrous or granular without splinters; 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 broadest above middle or broadest at or near middle, (5.5-) 8.5-12.5 cm, 2.1-4.0 (-5.0) cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, distinctly acuminate or long-tapering, venation pinnate, secondary veins open, not prominent, but visible, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface pale green, upper surface dull dark green, indumentum (hairs) absent; absent; domatia absent; stipules present, joined, joined across twigs, encircling the twig or soon not encircling the twig, collar-like, not fringed, often small, persistent.

Flowers: Inflorescence terminal, flowers on a branched axis, cones absent; flowers bisexual, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 30.0-36.0 mm long, diameter large (more than10 mm diam.) (c. 20 mm diam.); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth white, yellow (greenish (tinge), or cream-coloured; 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 15.0 (c.) mm long, white, 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, Milne Bay, Papuan Islands & New Ireland.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details