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

Schizomeria parviflora L.M.Perry

Journal of the Arnold Arboretum Vol. 30: 152 (1949)

Field Characters: Large trees 15-30 m high. Bole cylindrical 20-40 cm diam.; straight bole 10-18 m long; buttresses absent; spines absent; aerial roots absent; stilt roots absent. Bark white, grey, or brown, rough, pustular or cracked; lenticels irregular; subrhytidome red or brown; bark thickness <25 mm thick, 3.0 mm thick; blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; unpleasant; outer blaze red or brown, markings absent, fibrous; inner blaze red or brown, markings absent, fibrous; exudate present, colourless, spotty, changing colour on exposure to air, to dark red or brown, sticky. Terminal buds not enclosed by leaves; complex hairs absent; stinging hairs absent; mature twig without hairs.

Leaves: Spaced along branches <internodes readily visible>. Leaves opposite, simple; petiole present 8-11 mm long, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade <not peltate>, not swollen; lamina sometimes broadest above middle or broadest at or near middle, 4.5-6.5 cm long, 2.5-4.0 cm wide; lamina symmetric, margin serrate to dentate (toothed), not dissected or lobed, apex obtuse, 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, upper surface dark green, hairs absent; oil dots absent; domatia absent; stipules present, joined, joined across twigs <growing between opposite leaves and leaving a scar between them when they fall; interpetiolar>, leafy triangular, not fringed, small <not easily visible to the eye> 1-2 mm large, not persistent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary <from between a leaf and branch>. Flowers on a branched axis; flowers bisexual, stalked short, up to 1.5 mm long, with many planes of symmetry <actinomorphic>, 3.0 mm long, small (< or =10 mm diam.) 3 mm diam.; perianth present, with all sepals and/or petals (hence tepals) similar or petals absent, pale yellow or green greenish cream-coloured; inner perianth 5, free or some or partly joined at base; stamens 10, filaments present, free of each other, free of perianth; ovary superior <seated above petals and sepals; hypogenous>, carpels joined (when more than one) <syncarpous> styles solitary <including joined together>, 2 (joined at base).

Fruits: Fruits arranged on branched axis. Fruit 15-35 mm long, 10.0-25.0 mm diam., fruit orange, red, or brown, not spiny, non-fleshy, simple, indehiscent, drupe. Seeds 1, to about 5 mm long 5 mm long, not winged, as wide as long, 1-10 mm diam. 5 mm diam.

Distribution: Eastern Highlands, West Sepik, East Sepik, Southern Highlands, Central & Milne Bay.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details