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

Planchonella ledermannii (K.Krause) H.J.Lam

Nova Guinea Vol. 14: 561 (1932)

Family: Sapotaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Major exportable hardwood

Field Characters: Large canopy tree (up to c. 25 m high); Bole cylindrical (up to c. 70 cm diam.); straight (bole up to c. 20 m long); buttresses buttresses present or buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; bark exudate (sap) present, white/milky, 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 (with brown scurfy hairs).

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 broadest at or near middle, 20.0-28.0 cm, 10.0-15.0 cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, rounded, venation pinnate, secondary veins open, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface pale green (to silvery green), upper surface dull dark green, indumentum (hairs) absent; absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary or on the trunk or branches, flowers arising from a single point, cones absent; flowers bisexual, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 6.0-8.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.) (c. 8 mm diam.); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth cream-coloured; 5, some or partly joined; stamens 5, present, free of each other, joined to the perianth; ovary superior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 1-5; styles solitary, 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence single, fruit green (dark (possibly immature), not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, berry; seeds 1-2, not winged, broad (as wide as long).

Distribution: Morobe, Southern Highlands, Western, Central, Northern & New Britain.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

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Notes: Notes Pennington, T.D. (1991) The Genera of Sapotaceae (Royal Botanic Gardens Kew & New York Botanical Garden) reduced this species to Pouteria ledermannii K.Krause as part of Pouteria section Oligotheca. It is here maintained as Planchonella firma (Miq.) Dubard based on the recent molecular study by Barthish, I.V., Swenson, U., Munzinger, J. and Anderberg, A.A. (2005) American Journal of Botany 92(4): 667-673.Previously known as Planchonella ledermannii (K.Krause) H.J.Lam.