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

Maniltoa plurijuga Merr. & L.M.Perry

Journal of the Arnold Arboretum Vol. 23: 398 (1942)

Other Literature: B. Verdcourt, A Manual of New Guinea Legumes 67-69 (1979)

Family: Fabaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Minor hardwood

Field Characters: Large canopy tree (up to 40 high) or Small sub-canopy tree; Bole cylindrical (37-85 cm diam.); straight (bole 15-25 m long); buttresses buttresses present (usually buttresses up to 2.2 m high) or sometimes buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark red or brown to black, slightly rough or mostly smooth, slightly pustular, lenticels rounded/swelling; less than 25 mm thick; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze white (slightly pinkish) or pale pink, markings absent; inner blaze white (slightly pinkish) or pale pink, 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, spiral (leaves occurring singly at a node and arranged spirally up the branchlet), compound (a leaf made up from two or more leaflets); petiole present, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade, not swollen; leaves pinnate (unbranched with more than three leaflets) (mostly 10-15 pairs of leaflets); petiolule not swollen; rachis present, absent, absent; leaves without a terminal leaflet (the number of leaflets even - paripinnate), broadest below middle or equally broad throughout much of length, 2.5-5.0 (-6.0) cm, 0.6-2.0 cm, leaflets opposite, slightly asymmetric or symmetric; venation pinnate, secondary veins open, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface pale green, upper surface dark green, indumentum (hairs) absent; absent; domatia absent; stipules present, free, laterally placed, not encircling the twig, leafy, not fringed, not persistent (almost immediately).

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary, flowers arising from a single point or flowers on an unbranched axis (axis reduced), cones absent; flowers bisexual, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 9.0-13.0 mm long, diameter large (more than10 mm diam.); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth white; 5, free; stamens 10, present, joined, free of the perianth; ovary superior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 1; styles solitary, 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence arising from single point or arranged on unbranched axis, fruit 27.0-43.0 mm long, brown, not spiny, non-fleshy, simple, indehiscent, drupe; seeds 1 (-2), much more than 10 mm long, not winged, broad (as wide as long), seed more than 10 mm diam. (slightly falttened, 20-30 mm wide).

Distribution: West Sepik or Morobe.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

Notes: Notes This species is classified in Fabaceae subfamily Caesalpinoideae.