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

Melicope bonwickii (F.Muell.) T.G.Hartley

Sandakania Vol. 4: 56 (1994)

Family: Rutaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Minor hardwood

Field Characters: Small sub-canopy tree or Large canopy tree (up to at least 30 m high); Bole cylindrical (to slightly flanged, up to c. 75 cm diam.); straight (bole up to c. 22 m long); buttresses buttresses present (slightly buttresses usually up to c. 1 m high, sometimes to 2 m); spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark grey (pale mottled) or white, mostly smooth or slightly rough, slightly pustular or slightly cracked, lenticels elongated vertically; Subrhytidome (under-bark) red, pink, or green (sometimes (on young trees); less than 25 mm thick; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze yellow (straw-coloured), pink, white, or pale brown, markings absent; inner blaze yellow (pale (straw-coloured), white, pink, or pale brown, markings absent; bark exudate (sap) present, colourless, not readily flowing (spotty), colour changing on exposure to air, to golden-coloured, not sticky or sticky; terminal buds not enclosed by leaves.

Indumentum: Complex hairs absent; stinging hairs absent; mature twig indumentum (hairs) absent.

Leaves: Leaves spaced along branches (aromatic when crushed), opposite (in pairs, opposite one another on 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 with three leaflets (trifoliate); petiolule not swollen; leaves with a terminal leaflet (the number of leaflets odd - imparipinnate), broadest at or near middle or broadest above middle, 10.0-20.0 (-26.0) cm, 4.0-8.0 (-10.5) cm, leaflets arranged from one point (3-foliolate), symmetric, terminal developing leaflet buds straight; venation pinnate, secondary veins open, not prominent, but visible, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface pale green, upper surface dark green, indumentum (hairs) absent; present (leaf surface glandular punctate); domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary (and extra-axillary, often below leaves) or on the trunk or branches (on branches), flowers on a branched axis, cones absent; flowers bisexual, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 4.0-5.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.) (3-4 mm diam.); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth pink (pale distally) or at base white; 4 (densely hairy on inner surface), free; stamens present, free of each other, free of the perianth; ovary superior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 3; styles solitary, 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on branched axis, fruit 5.0-8.0 mm long, 7.0-10.0 mm diam., brown or yellow, not spiny, non-fleshy, simple (locules fused at centre only, hence fruit 3-angled), dehiscent (by misinterpretation (fruit splits incompletely into dehiscent parts - mericarps) or indehiscent, schizocarp; seeds 1 (per mericarp), to about 5 mm long (3-4 mm long), not winged, broad (as wide as long) (black), seed 1-10 mm diam. (c. 3 mm diam.).

Distribution: West Sepik, Morobe, Southern Highlands, Western, Central, Northern & Milne Bay.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

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Notes: Notes This species was previously known as Euodia bonwickii F.Muell.