Barry Conn (NSW) & Kipiro Damas (LAE).
Copyright held by the authors, Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, and Papua New Guinea National Herbarium

Versteegia cauliflora Valeton

Nova Guinea Vol. 8: 484 (1911)

Field Characters: Small trees 4-8 m high. Bole cylindrical about 10 cm diam.; straight bole 4-8 m long; buttresses absent; spines absent; aerial roots absent; stilt roots absent. Bark brown, slightly rough, slightly pustular or slightly fissured; lenticels irregular scattered; blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze brown pale to dark or pink, markings absent, fibrous; inner blaze pink or brown pale to dark, markings absent, fibrous; exudate present, colourless, spotty, not changing colour on exposure to air, sticky. Terminal buds not enclosed by leaves; complex hairs absent; stinging hairs absent; mature twig without hairs.

Leaves: Spaced along branches <internodes readily visible>. Leaves opposite, simple; petiole present, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade <not peltate>, not swollen; lamina broadest above middle, 28.0-35.0 cm long, 11.0-14.0 cm wide; lamina symmetric, margin entire, not dissected or lobed, apex obtuse, venation pinnate <secondary veins arising from the midrib along its length>, secondary veins open <spaced far apart to easily see tertiary veins>, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; lower surface pale green, upper surface dark green, hairs absent; oil dots absent; domatia absent; stipules present, joined, joined across twigs <growing between opposite leaves and leaving a scar between them when they fall; interpetiolar>, encircling the twig <amplexicaul>, leafy, not fringed, large <easily visible to the eye> up to about 10 mm long, persistent.

Flowers: Inflorescence on the trunk or branches <cauliflorous-ramiflorous>. Flowers on an unbranched axis in clusters on trunk; flowers bisexual, not stalked or shortly stalked up to about 3 mm long, with many planes of symmetry <actinomorphic>, 6.0-10.0 mm long, small (< or =10 mm diam.) 5-8 mm diam.; perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals, white, brown perianth becoming darker with age, yellow, or red; inner perianth 5, some or partly joined; stamens 5, filaments present, free of each other, joined to perianth <epipetalous/episepalous> ovary inferior <seated below the petals and sepals; epigenous>, carpels joined (when more than one) <syncarpous>, locules 5; styles solitary <including joined together>, 1.

Fruits: Fruits arranged on unbranched axis. Fruit 14-22 mm long, 14.0-15.0 mm diam., fruit red broadest at or near middle, or below middle, not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, drupe. Seeds 1, about 10 mm long, not winged, as wide as long, 1-10 mm diam. about 10 mm diam.

Distribution: Western Highlands, Bougainville, Northern, Morobe, Madang, East Sepik, West Sepik & Milne Bay.

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