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

Ternstroemia britteniana F.Muell.

Journal of Botany Vol. 29: 176 (1891)

Other Literature: W.R. Barker, Brunonia 16-24 (1980) Fig. 2-3.

Family: Pentaphylaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Occasional timber species

Field Characters: Small sub-canopy tree (up to 25 m high); Bole cylindrical (up to 40 cm diam.); straight (bole up to 10 m long); buttresses buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark brownish red, brown (sometimes mottled), or grey, sometimes rough or smooth, rarely scaly or flaky, slightly fissured, or slightly pustular, lenticels elongated vertically; Subrhytidome (under-bark) green; less than 25 mm thick; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; pleasant (with an aniseed aroma); outer blaze brown, pink, or red, with stripes (yellow and reddish pink streaks); inner blaze pink, red, or brown, with stripes (yellow and reddish pink streaks); 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, usually whorled (with more than two leaves at one node of a branchlet) or opposite (in pairs, opposite one another on the branchlet), 4-7, 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 or broadest above middle, (1.0-) 2.0-12.0 cm, (0.5-) 1.0-5.0 (-5.5) cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, rounded, acuminate (larger leaves), or emarginate or retuse, venation pinnate, secondary veins open, not prominent, but visible or occasionally not visible, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface pale green, greenish grey, or yellowish green, upper surface dark green, indumentum (hairs) absent; absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary (mostly on branchlets below leaves, hence extra-axillary), flowers single, cones absent; flowers unisexual (male) or bisexual, unisexual with male and female flowers on the same plant, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 3.5-8.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.) (5-8 mm diam.); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth slightly pink, pale yellow, white, or cream-coloured; 5, free or at base some or partly joined; stamens 20-90, present, free of each other, free of the perianth; ovary superior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 2-3; styles free (closely adjacent to each other) or solitary, 1-2 (-3).

Fruits: Infrutescence single, fruit (10.0-) 12.0-20.0 mm long, (9.0-) 10.0-16.0 (-19.0) mm diam., dark red, reddish brown, or orange, not spiny, non-fleshy, simple, indehiscent (probably rupturing irregularly at maturity), berry; seeds (0-) (in each locule) 1-14, about 10 mm long (5-8 mm long, rarely to 10 mm), not winged, broad (as wide as long), seed 1-10 mm diam. (3-7 mm diam.).

Distribution: Morobe, Western Highlands, Eastern Highlands, Southern Highlands & Central.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

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Notes: Notes Ternstroemia was previously classified in the family Theaceae.