Barry Conn (NSW) & Kipiro Damas (LAE).
Copyright held by the authors, Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, and Papua New Guinea National Herbarium

Gardenia kamialiensis W.N.Takeuchi

Harvard Papers in Botany Vol. 9: 232-236 (2004) Fig. 2-5.

Field Characters: Small trees up to 18 m high or large trees 25-30 m high. Bole cylindrical 20 cm diam.; straight; buttresses absent; spines absent; aerial roots absent; stilt roots absent. Bark grey, rough, pustular; lenticels elongated laterally or irregular; subrhytidome green; bark thickness <25 mm thick, 5.0 mm thick; blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; pleasant; outer blaze pale yellow, with stripes, granular without splinters; inner blaze pale yellow, with stripes, granular without splinters; exudate absent. Terminal buds enclosed by leaves; complex hairs absent; stinging hairs absent; mature twig without hairs.

Leaves: Spaced along branches <internodes readily visible>. Leaves opposite, simple; petiole present short or almost absent, winged lamina extending along edge of petiole, attached to base of leaf blade <not peltate>, not swollen; lamina broadest above middle, (15.0-) 35.0-40.0 (leaves unequal in size) cm long, (8.0-) 13.5-17.0 cm wide; lamina symmetric to slightly asymmetric, margin entire, not dissected or lobed, apex abruptly acuminate, venation pinnate <secondary veins arising from the midrib along its length>, secondary veins open <spaced far apart to easily see tertiary veins>, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; lower surface green or pale green, upper surface glossy green, hairs absent; oil dots absent; domatia absent; stipules present, joined, joined across twigs <growing between opposite leaves and leaving a scar between them when they fall; interpetiolar>, encircling the twig <amplexicaul>, leafy, not fringed, large <easily visible to the eye> 4-10(-14) mm long, not persistent.

Flowers: Inflorescence terminal <at branch ends>. Flowers single <solitary> flowers bisexual, stalked up to 16 mm long, with many planes of symmetry <actinomorphic>, 40.0-75.0 mm long, large (>10 mm diam.) 50-60 mm diam.; perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals, white aromatic; inner perianth 6-9, some or partly joined forming a corolla ube; stamens 6-9 (same number as corolla lobes), filaments present short, 1 mm long, free of each other, joined to perianth <epipetalous/episepalous> ovary inferior <seated below the petals and sepals; epigenous>, carpels joined (when more than one) <syncarpous>, locules 1; styles solitary <including joined together>, 1 (30-35 mm long).

Fruits: Fruits single <solitary>. Fruit 55-90 mm long, 50.0-65.0 mm diam., fruit green immature, not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, drupe. Seeds 100 (held within bright red placentae), to about 5 mm long 3-6 mm long, not winged, as wide as long, 1-10 mm diam. 3-6 mm wide.

Distribution: Morobe.

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