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

Gigasiphon schlechteri (Harms) de Wit

Reinwardtia Vol. 3: 421 (1956)

Other Literature: B. Verdcourt, A Manual of New Guinea Legumes 110-112 (1979) Fig. 27.

Field Characters: Small trees about 20 m high. Bole cylindrical dbh 35 cm; straight about 3 m long; buttresses absent; spines absent; aerial roots absent; stilt roots absent. Bark brown or grey, rough, pustular; lenticels irregular; subrhytidome brown or orange; bark thickness <25 mm thick, 5.0-6.0 mm thick; blaze consisting of one layer; strongly aromatic; pleasant pea-like; outer blaze brown or grey, markings absent, fibrous; inner blaze grey or brown, markings absent, fibrous; exudate present, colourless, spotty, changing colour on exposure to air, to yellow, sticky. Terminal buds not enclosed by leaves; complex hairs absent; stinging hairs absent; mature twig without hairs.

Leaves: Spaced along branches <internodes readily visible>. Leaves spiral, simple; petiole present, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade <not peltate>, swollen <at tip, or base, or both> lamina broadest below middle, 17.0-21.0 cm long, 8.0-11.0 cm wide; lamina symmetric, margin entire, not dissected or lobed, apex acuminate, venation palmate <more than three large veins arising from the base> (pinnate towards apex), secondary veins open <spaced far apart to easily see tertiary veins>, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; lower surface pale green, upper surface dark green, hairs absent; oil dots absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence terminal <at branch ends>. Flowers on an unbranched axis; flowers bisexual, stalked, with many planes of symmetry <actinomorphic> perianth symmetric or with one plane of symmetry <zygomorphic> stamens, 65.0-100.0 mm long, large (>10 mm diam.) about 50 mm diam.; perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals, purple distally or white; inner perianth 5, free; stamens 10, filaments present of different lengths, free of each other or at base joined <connate>, free of perianth; ovary superior <seated above petals and sepals; hypogenous> ovary on a long stalk, carpels joined (when more than one) <syncarpous>, locules 1; styles solitary <including joined together>, 1.

Fruits: Fruits arranged on unbranched axis. Fruit 70-350 mm long, 65.0-70.0 (fruit flattened) mm diam., fruit black, not spiny, non-fleshy, simple, dehiscent, legume. Seeds 1-7, much more than 10 mm long (about 35-38 mm long), not winged, as wide as long slightly irregular, 1-10 mm diam. about 9-10 mm wide (flattened.

Distribution: Madang, East Sepik & Western Highlands.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

Notes: This species is classified in the subfamily Caesalpinioideae.