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

Melicope polyadenia Merr. & L.M.Perry

Journal of the Arnold Arboretum Vol. 22: 47 (1941)

Field Characters: Small trees 10-20 m long. Bole cylindrical 20-30 cm diam.; straight; buttresses absent; spines absent; aerial roots absent; stilt roots absent. Bark grey or pale brown, rough, pustular; lenticels slightly elongated vertically or irregular; subrhytidome pale brown or yellow; bark thickness <25 mm thick, 10.0 mm thick; blaze consisting of one layer; strongly aromatic; pleasant melon-like; outer blaze pale yellow cream-coloured or pale brown, markings absent, fibrous; inner blaze pale yellow cream-coloured or pale brown, markings absent, fibrous; exudate absent. 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 (by misinterpretation) or compound; petiole present, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade <not peltate>, swollen <at tip, or base, or both> at both base and tip; lamina broadest above middle, 7.0-14.0 cm long, 4.0-6.0 cm wide; lamina symmetric, margin entire, not dissected or lobed, apex rounded; leaves with one leaflet; petiolule swollen <at tip, or base, or both> rachis absent; each leaflet broadest above middle, 7.0-14.0 cm long, 4.0-6.0 cm wide, symmetric, terminal developing leaflet buds straight; venation pinnate <secondary veins arising from the midrib along its length>, secondary veins closed <spaced so close together that tertiary veins cannot be easily seen between them>, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; lower surface pale green or green, upper surface green, hairs absent; oil dots absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary <from between a leaf and branch>. Flowers on a branched axis; flowers bisexual or possibly unisexual as anthers are incompletely developed, with male and female flowers on the same plant <monoecious>, flowers stalked pedicel 2 mm long, with many planes of symmetry <actinomorphic>, 3.0-4.0 mm long, small (< or =10 mm diam.) c. 4 mm diam.; perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals, pale yellow cream-coloured or white; inner perianth 4, free; stamens 8, filaments present, free of each other, free of perianth; ovary superior <seated above petals and sepals; hypogenous>, carpels joined (when more than one) <syncarpous>, locules 4; styles solitary <including joined together> about 1 mm long, 1.

Fruits: Fruits arranged on branched axis. Fruit 5-6 mm long, 7.0-8.0 mm diam., fruit dark green, not spiny, non-fleshy, simple, dehiscent, capsule. Seeds 4, to about 5 mm long about 4 mm long, not winged, as wide as long, 1-10 mm diam. about 3 mm wide.

Distribution: Morobe, Central & Milne Bay.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

Notes: This species is recorded from higher elevations; however, one collection (Conn 5255) appears to be this species but occurs behind mangroves at Kamiali (Morobe Province).