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

Vavaea amicorum Benth.

Journal of Botany Vol. 2: 212 (1843)

Other Literature: D.J. Mabberley & A.M. Sing, Flora Malesiana, Series 1 35-37 (1995)

Family: Meliaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Non-timber species

Field Characters: Large canopy tree (up to 30 m high) or Small sub-canopy tree (usually 10-20 m high); Bole cylindrical (up to 50 cm diam.); straight (bole 10-20 m long); buttresses buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark pale yellow, grey, or brown, slightly rough or smooth, slightly scaly or flaky or slightly pustular, lenticels irregular; less than 25 mm thick; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze white, pale yellow, pale red, or pale brown, markings absent; inner blaze white, pale yellow, pale red, or brown, markings absent; bark exudate (sap) absent; terminal buds not enclosed by leaves.

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

Leaves: Leaves clustered at end of branches (in terminal rosettes), sub opposite (in pairs, opposite one another on the branchlet) or 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 broadest above middle, (2.0-) 3.0-22.0 (-27.0) cm, (2.0-) 5.0-9.0 (-13.0) cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, obtuse or sub acute, venation pinnate, secondary veins open, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface pale green, upper surface green (glossy), indumentum (hairs) absent; absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary (occasionally supra-axillary), flowers on an unbranched axis, cones absent; flowers bisexual, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 4.0-9.5 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.) (4-5 mm diam.); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth white, pale yellow, or cream-coloured; (3-) 4-6, some or partly joined; stamens 9-17, present, joined (to form a staminal tube), free of the perianth; ovary superior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 2-4; styles solitary, 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on unbranched axis, fruit 8.0-20.0 mm long, black or purple, not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, berry; seeds 1-4, not winged.

Distribution: East Sepik, Morobe, Eastern Highlands, Southern Highlands, Western, Gulf, Central, Papuan Islands, New Britain, New Ireland, Manus & Bougainville.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details