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 laqueatum Merr. & L.M.Perry

Journal of the Arnold Arboretum Vol. 23: 257 (1942)

Family: Myrtaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group:

Field Characters: Small sub-canopy tree or Large canopy tree (up to 30 m high); Bole cylindrical (up to c. 50 cm diam.); straight (bole up to c. 10 m long, sometimes up to 24 m); buttresses buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark grey, brownish red, or pale brown, almost smooth or slightly rough, pustular (slightly (lenticels few and shallow), scaly or flaky, or irregularly fissured, lenticels rounded/swelling; Subrhytidome (under-bark) yellow (pale (straw-coloured) or white; less than 25 mm thick (0.125 inch), 3.0-6.0; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze pale orange, yellow (pale (straw-coloured), pale red, or pale brown, markings absent, slightly fibrous; inner blaze pale brown, yellow (pale (straw-coloured), pale orange, or pale red, markings absent, slightly 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, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade, not swollen; leaves broadest at or near middle, 9.0-16.0 cm, 5.0-6.0 cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, acuminate, venation pinnate, secondary veins closed, not prominent, but visible, intramarginal veins present; leaves lower surface greenish yellow or green, upper surface dark green, indumentum (hairs) absent; present; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary, flowers on a branched axis, cones absent; flowers bisexual, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 15.0-30.0 mm long, diameter large (more than10 mm diam.) (15-29 mm); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth white; 4, free; stamens 100, present, free of each other, free of the perianth (attached to hypanthium); ovary inferior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 2; styles solitary, 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on branched axis, fruit 35.0-40.0 mm long, 40.0 (c.) mm diam., red, not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, drupe; seeds 1, much more than 10 mm long (30-35 mm long), not winged, broad (as wide as long), seed more than 10 mm diam. (c. 30 mm diam.).

Distribution: Morobe, Eastern Highlands, Southern Highlands & Northern.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details