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

Myristica sulcata Warb.

Monog. Myrist. 538 (1897) Fig. 19.

Other Literature: D.B. Foreman, Handbooks of the Flora of Papua New Guinea 211 (1978)

Family: Myristicaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Commercial hardwood

Field Characters: Emergent tree (up to 40 m high) or Large canopy tree; Bole cylindrical; straight; buttresses buttresses present (buttresses up to c. 1.5 m high) or buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots sometimes stilt roots present or stilt roots absent; Bark grey, brown (patchy), or almost black, rough or smooth, slightly scaly or flaky, slightly fissured, or pustular, lenticels rounded/swelling (large); Subrhytidome (under-bark) yellow, pink, brown, or mottled; less than 25 mm thick; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze pink, markings absent; inner blaze pink, markings absent; bark exudate (sap) present, colourless, flowing or not readily flowing (spotty), colour changing on exposure to air, to red, 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, spiral (leaves occurring singly at a node and arranged spirally up the branchlet), simple (a leaf composed of a single blade); petiole present, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade, not swollen; leaves occasionally broadest above middle or broadest at or near middle, (12.0-) 14.0-26.0 (-32.0) cm, 3.0-9.0 (-12.0) cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, abruptly acuminate, venation pinnate, secondary veins open, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface pale green, upper surface green, indumentum (hairs) absent; absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary, flowers arising from a single point, cones absent; flowers unisexual, unisexual with male and female flowers on different plants, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 3.0-5.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.); perianth present, with all sepals and/or petals (hence tepals) similar, inner perianth yellow (sometimes with brown dots, slightly fragrant); 2-3 (-5), some or partly joined; stamens 8-30, absent, joined, free of the perianth; ovary superior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 1; styles solitary, 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence arising from single point, fruit 38.0-60.0 mm long, orange (brownish (sometimes), red, or brown, not spiny, fleshy, simple, dehiscent, capsule (2-valved); seeds 1, much more than 10 mm long (15-20 mm long, less frequently to 25 mm), not winged, broad (as wide as long), seed more than 10 mm diam. (15-25 mm diam.).

Distribution: Madang, Morobe, Central, Northern, Milne Bay & New Britain.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details