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

Syzygium branderhorstii Lauterb.

Nova Guinea, Botany Vol. 8: 322 (1910)

Family: Myrtaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Occasional timber species

Field Characters: Large canopy tree (up to 28 m high); Bole cylindrical (up to c. 50 cm diam.); crooked or straight (bole mostly 5-10 m long, sometimes to 20 m); buttresses buttresses present; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark red, grey, or brown, rough, scaly or flaky or slightly fissured; Subrhytidome (under-bark) pale red or pale brown; less than 25 mm thick, 5.0-10.0; bark blaze consisting of one layer; strongly aromatic; pleasant; outer blaze pink or pale red, markings absent, fibrous; inner blaze pink or pale red, markings absent, fibrous; bark exudate (sap) absent; terminal buds not 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 (to 22 mm long), not winged, attached to base of leaf blade, not swollen; leaves broadest above middle, broadest at or near middle, or rarely broadest below middle, 7.0-27.0 cm, 3.0-14.0 cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, rounded, obtuse, or slightly acuminate, venation pinnate, secondary veins open, not prominent, but visible, intramarginal veins present; leaves lower surface pale green, upper surface dull green, indumentum (hairs) absent; present; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence leaf-opposed or on the trunk or branches, flowers on a branched axis, cones absent; flowers bisexual, not stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 7.0-17.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.) (7-8 mm diam); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth white, pale yellow, red (rarely crimson), or cream-coloured; 4-6, free; stamens 100, present, free of each other, free of the perianth; ovary inferior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 2; styles solitary, 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on branched axis, fruit 20.0-50.0 mm long, 20.0-45.0 mm diam., white, red (or pink), black, or purple, not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, drupe; seeds 1, much more than 10 mm long (c. 20-40 mm long), not winged, narrow (longer than wide), seed more than 10 mm diam. (up to 25 mm diam.).

Distribution: Madang, Morobe, Western, Central, Northern, Milne Bay, Papuan Islands & New Britain.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

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