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

Pouteria sarcospermoides (H.J.Lam) H.J.Lam

Blumea Vol. 5: 337 (1943)

Family: Sapotaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Non-timber species

Field Characters: Small sub-canopy tree (up to 20 m high); Bole cylindrical (15-30 cm diam.); straight (bole up to c. 10 m long); buttresses buttresses present; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark brown, rough, slightly tessellated, scaly or flaky, slightly pustular, or fissured, lenticels irregular; Subrhytidome (under-bark) yellow (pale (straw-coloured), red, or pink; less than 25 mm thick, 5.0-10.0; bark blaze consisting of one layer; strongly aromatic or faintly to non-aromatic; pleasant; outer blaze yellow (pale (straw-coloured), red, or pink, markings absent, fibrous or granular with splinters; inner blaze pink, red, or yellow (pale (straw-coloured), markings absent, fibrous or granular with splinters; bark exudate (sap) present, white/milky, flowing, colour not changing on exposure to air, sticky; terminal buds enclosed by leaves.

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

Leaves: Leaves spaced along branches, opposite (in pairs, opposite one another on the branchlet), simple (a leaf composed of a single blade); petiole present, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade, slightly swollen or not swollen; leaves broadest at or near middle, 13.5-46.0 cm, 5.5-12.0 cm; very asymmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, acute, venation pinnate, secondary veins open, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface pale green, upper surface dark green, indumentum (hairs) absent; absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary, flowers single (but closely clustered to other flowers), cones absent; flowers bisexual, not stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 10.0-12.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.) (8-10 mm diam.); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth brown (covered with brown hairs); 5, free; stamens 5, present, free of each other, free of the perianth; ovary superior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 1; styles solitary, 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence single (clustered together), fruit 15.0 (c.) mm long, 20.0 (c.) mm diam., purple (inside red) or yellow, not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, drupe; seeds 1, much more than 10 mm long (c. 15 mm long), not winged, broad (as wide as long), seed more than 10 mm diam. (c. 15 mm diam.).

Distribution: Morobe or Central.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

Notes: Notes It is thought that this taxon probably belongs to the genus Planchonella.