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

Terminalia canaliculata Excell

Blumea Vol. 7: 327 (1953)

Other Literature: M.J.E. Coode, Handbooks of the Flora of Papua New Guinea 69-72 (1978) Fig. 27.

Family: Combretaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Occasional timber species

Field Characters: Large canopy tree (up to 40 m high); Bole cylindrical (up to c. 60 cm diam.); straight; buttresses buttresses present (often spurred); spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark pale brown, rough, slightly pustular, scaly or flaky, or tessellated, lenticels irregular; Subrhytidome (under-bark) red or brown; less than 25 mm thick, 18.0-20.0; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; pleasant; outer blaze yellow, markings absent, fibrous; inner blaze yellow, markings absent, fibrous; bark exudate (sap) present, colourless, not readily flowing (spotty), colour changing on exposure to air, to brown or brownish yellow, sticky; terminal buds enclosed by leaves.

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

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; leaves sometimes broadest at or near middle or broadest above middle, 6.5-15.0 cm, (2.0-) 4.0-8.0 cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, obtuse or acuminate, venation pinnate, secondary veins open, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface pale green, upper surface green, indumentum (hairs) present when young or absent, indumentum (hairs) sparse or dense; absent (with large canals present above veins, translucent at least when young); domatia present, scattered along midrib; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary, flowers on an unbranched axis, cones absent; flowers bisexual (towards base of inflorescence) or unisexual (male flowers towards apex of inflorescence), stalked (shortly), flowers with many planes of symmetry, 4.0-5.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.) (c. 5 mm diam.); perianth present, with all sepals and/or petals (hence tepals) similar or petals absent, inner perianth white; 5, free; stamens 10, 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 unbranched axis, fruit 35.0-40.0 mm long, 30.0-35.0 mm diam., green when immature, not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, drupe; seeds 1, about 10 mm long, not winged (fruit not winged also), narrow (longer than wide), seed 1-10 mm diam.

Distribution: Morobe, Southern Highlands, Western, Gulf, Central, Northern, Milne Bay & New Britain.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details