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

Spondias cytherea Sonn.

Voyage aux Indes, Orientales et la Chine Vol. 2: (1782)

Family: Anacardiaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Occasional timber species

Field Characters: Emergent tree or Large canopy tree (to 50 m high); Bole cylindrical (c. 80 cm diam.); straight (bole up to 45 m long); buttresses buttresses present; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark pale brown, slightly rough or almost smooth, slightly fissured or pustular, lenticels elongated vertically; Subrhytidome (under-bark) green; less than 25 mm thick, 20.0; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; pleasant; outer blaze brown, with stripes, fibrous; inner blaze brown, with stripes, fibrous; bark exudate (sap) present, colourless, not readily flowing (spotty), colour not changing on exposure to air, not sticky; terminal buds not enclosed by leaves.

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

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 swollen at base); leaves pinnate (unbranched with more than three leaflets); petiolule not swollen (very short, so leaflets almost sessile); rachis present, absent, absent; leaves with a terminal leaflet (the number of leaflets odd - imparipinnate), broadest at or near middle or broadest below middle, (7.0-) 9.0-14.0 (-25.0) cm, 3.0-5.0 cm, leaflets opposite, slightly asymmetric or symmetric, terminal developing leaflet buds straight; venation pinnate, secondary veins open, prominent, intramarginal veins present; leaves lower surface pale green or green, upper surface green (glossy), indumentum (hairs) absent; absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence terminal, flowers on a branched axis, cones absent; flowers bisexual, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 2.5-3.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.) (1-1.5 mm diam.); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth white or cream-coloured; 5, some or partly joined; stamens 10, present, free of each other, free of the perianth; ovary superior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules (4-) 5; styles free, (4-) 5.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on branched axis, fruit 40.0-100.0 mm long, 35.0-80.0 mm diam., green or orange when mature, not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, drupe; seeds 4-5, about 10 mm long, not winged, narrow (longer than wide), seed 1-10 mm diam. (c. 2 mm diam.).

Distribution: West Sepik, East Sepik, Madang, Morobe, Southern Highlands, Western, Central, Northern, Milne Bay, New Britain & New Ireland.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

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