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

Sterculia schumanniana (Lauterb.) Mildbr.

Botanische Jahrbucher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie Vol. 62: 358 (1929)

Other Literature: Lembaga Penelitian Hutan 139-140 (1976)

Family: Malvaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Non-timber species

Field Characters: Small sub-canopy tree (up to c. 25 m high); Bole cylindrical (up to 40 cm diam.); straight (bole up to c. 10 m long); buttresses slightly buttresses present; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark dark grey, rough, scaly or flaky (irregular), fissured, or slightly peeling; Subrhytidome (under-bark) pink; less than 25 mm thick, 16.0-20.0; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze yellow (pale (straw-coloured) or white, with stripes (white), fibrous; inner blaze yellow (pale Enecil Village, near Gogol River, Madang subdistrict.) or white, speckled (white), fibrous; bark exudate (sap) absent; terminal buds not enclosed by leaves.

Indumentum: Complex hairs present, star-like (stellate); stinging hairs absent; mature twig indumentum (hairs) present when young or soon absent, hairs dense to sparse.

Leaves: Leaves slightly spaced along branches or clustered at end of 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 or slightly swollen; leaves broadest at or near middle or slightly broadest above middle, (10.0-) 16.0-30.0 cm, 8.0-14.0 cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, acuminate (shortly), venation pinnate, secondary veins open, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface pale green or greenish white, upper surface dark green, indumentum (hairs) present, indumentum (hairs) dense; absent; domatia absent; stipules present, free, laterally placed, not encircling the twig, leafy, not fringed, large (c. 5 mm long), not persistent (soon dehiscent, only present at growing point of branchlets).

Flowers: Inflorescence on the trunk or branches (on branchlets below leaves) or axillary, flowers on a branched axis, cones absent; flowers unisexual, unisexual with male and female flowers on the same plant, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 10.0-12.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.) (5-6 mm diam.); perianth present, with all sepals and/or petals (hence tepals) similar, inner perianth yellow, red (on inner surface near base), or yellowish green; 5, some or partly joined (forming a perianth tube and 5 perianth lobes); stamens 20 (c. (male flowers), absent, joined (to form a staminal tube around the ovary and style), free of the perianth; ovary superior, carpels separate (when more than one), locules 4-5; styles free, 4-5.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on branched axis, fruit 50.0-65.0 mm long, 12.0-15.0 mm diam., orange or red, not spiny, non-fleshy, aggregate, dehiscent, follicle; seeds 5-8, about 10 mm long (7-9 mm long), not winged, broad (as wide as long) (black, glossy), seed 1-10 mm diam. (4-5 mm diam.).

Distribution: East Sepik, Madang, Morobe, Western Highlands, Western, Northern & New Britain.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

.

Notes: Notes The genus Sterculia was previously classified in the family Sterculiaceae. Sterculia schumanniana is very inadequately known, such that its taxonomic status is unclear.