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

Hernandia ovigera L.

Dissertation Herbarium Amboinense in Amoenitates Academici Vol. 14: 125 (1754)

Family: Hernandiaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Non-timber species

Field Characters: Large canopy tree (15-30 m high); Bole cylindrical (30-50 cm diam.); straight (bole c. 10 m long); buttresses slightly buttresses present or buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark white, grey, or pale brown, rough, scaly or flaky or slightly fissured; Subrhytidome (under-bark) white, green, or mottled; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze white or pale yellow; inner blaze white or pale yellow.

Indumentum: Stinging 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 (long), not winged, attached to base of leaf blade, not swollen; leaves broadest below middle; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, obtuse, venation pinnate, secondary veins open, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface dull green, upper surface dark green or blue-green (glossy), indumentum (hairs) absent; absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary, flowers on a branched axis, cones absent; flowers unisexual, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 5.0 (c.) mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.) (c. 5 mm diam.); perianth present, inner perianth white or yellow; 5, free; stamens 5 (male flowers), present, free of each other, free of the perianth; ovary inferior, carpels solitary, locules 1; styles absent.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on branched axis, fruit green or pale brown, not spiny, non-fleshy, simple, indehiscent; seeds 1, not winged.

Distribution: West Sepik, East Sepik, Madang, Morobe, Western, Gulf, Central, Northern, Milne Bay, Papuan Islands, New Britain & Bougainville.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

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