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

Platea excelsa var. borneensis (Heine) Sleumer

Blumea Vol. 17: 246 (1969)

Other Literature: H. Sleumer, Flora Malesiana Series 1 Vol. 7: 13-14 (1971) Fig. 6.

Field Characters: Large trees 20-25 m high or small trees. Bole cylindrical 30-35 cm diam.; straight; buttresses present; spines absent; aerial roots absent; stilt roots absent. Bark brown, rough, pustular; lenticels elongated vertically; subrhytidome green; bark thickness <25 mm thick, 10.0 mm thick; blaze consisting of one layer; strongly aromatic; pleasant; outer blaze red, with stripes, fibrous; inner blaze red, with stripes, 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; petiole present, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade <not peltate>, not swollen; lamina broadest at or near middle, (9.0-) 12.0-23.0 (-26.0) cm long, (4.5-) 5.0-10.0 (-12.0) cm wide; lamina very asymmetric, margin entire, not dissected or lobed, apex acuminate, venation pinnate <secondary veins arising from the midrib along its length>, secondary veins open <spaced far apart to easily see tertiary veins>, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; lower surface green or greenish red reddish hairs, upper surface glossy green, hairs present lower surface or absent upper surface, dense; oil dots absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary <from between a leaf and branch>. Flowers on a branched axis; flowers unisexual, with male and female flowers on different plants <dioecious>, flowers stalked, with many planes of symmetry <actinomorphic>, 1.5-2.0 mm long, small (< or =10 mm diam.) 1.5-2 mm diam.; perianth absent female flowers or present male flowers, with distinct sepals and petals, pale green; inner perianth 5, some or partly joined at base; stamens 0-(female flowers)-5 (male flowers), filaments present short, free of each other, joined to perianth <epipetalous/episepalous> ovary superior <seated above petals and sepals; hypogenous>, carpels solitary <monomerous>, locules 1; styles absent.

Fruits: Fruits arranged on branched axis. Fruit 35-40 mm long, 20.0-25.0 mm diam., fruit red or dark green, not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, drupe. Seeds 1, much more than 10 mm long c. 15 mm long, not winged, longer than wide, 1-10 mm diam. c. 10 mm wide.

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

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