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

Paraserianthes falcataria subsp. solomonensis I.C.Nielsen

Bulletin Mus. Natn. Hist. Paris, Séries 4, 5, Section B, Adansonia Vol. 3 & 4: 327-359 (1983)

Other Literature: I.C. Nielsen, Flora Malesiana, Series 1 153 (1992)

Family: Fabaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Non-timber species

Field Characters: Large canopy tree (up to c. 30 m high) or Small sub-canopy tree; Bole cylindrical (to slightly fluted near base, c. 50 m diam.); straight; buttresses buttresses present (then short) or buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark white, green, or grey, slightly rough or smooth, sometimes fissured or slightly pustular, lenticels elongated vertically; Subrhytidome (under-bark) red or dark brown; less than 25 mm thick; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze white, pale yellow, or pale pink, markings absent, fibrous; inner blaze white, pale yellow, or pale pink, markings absent, fibrous; bark exudate (sap) present, red (pale (pink), not readily flowing (spotty), colour not changing on exposure to air, sticky; terminal buds not enclosed by leaves.

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

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 or swollen (slightly at base (also with raised petiolar gland); leaves bipinnate (with the rachis branched once); petiolule not swollen; rachis present, absent, absent; leaves without a terminal leaflet (the number of leaflets even - paripinnate), broadest at or near middle or equally broad throughout much of length, (0.7-) 1.0-1.7 cm, (2.5-) 4.5-6.0 cm, leaflets opposite, symmetric; venation pinnate (mid-vein displaced to 1/3-1/4 distance from one margin), secondary veins open, not prominent, but visible, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface pale green, upper surface pale green, indumentum (hairs) absent or present (covered with short hairs), indumentum (hairs) dense; absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary, 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.) (c. 4 mm diam.); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth white or greenish yellow; 5, some or partly joined; stamens 19-50, present, joined (to form a staminal tube), free of the perianth; ovary superior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 1; styles solitary, 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on branched axis, fruit 80.0-120.0 mm long, yellowish brown, not spiny, non-fleshy, simple, dehiscent, legume; seeds 13-15, about 10 mm long (c. 7 mm long), not winged, narrow (longer than wide), seed 1-10 mm diam. (flattened, c. 3.5 mm wide).

Distribution: Morobe, Milne Bay, Papuan Islands, New Britain, New Ireland, Manus & Bougainville.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

Notes: Notes This subspecies is readily distinguished from subsp. falcataria by the mid-vein being displaced by 1/3-1/4 the distance from one side of the leaf margin, whereas in the latter subspecies, the mid-vein is only c. 1/5 the distance from one side of the leaf margin.

This subspecies is classified in Fabaceae subfamily Mimosoideae or in the separate family Mimosaceae.