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

Bridelia macrocarpa Airy Shaw

Kew Bulletin Vol. 25: 512 (1971)

Field Characters: Large trees 20 m high. Bole cylindrical about 25 cm diam.; straight; buttresses present; spines absent; aerial roots absent; stilt roots absent. Bark brown, rough, scaly or flaky, tessellated, or slightly pustular; lenticels elongated vertically; subrhytidome red or brown; bark thickness <25 mm thick, 4.0 mm thick; blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; pleasant; outer blaze red or brown, markings absent, fibrous; inner blaze red or brown, markings absent, fibrous; exudate present, colourless, flowing, not changing colour on exposure to air, slightly 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 spiral, simple; petiole present, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade <not peltate>, not swollen; lamina broadest at or near middle, 11.5-21.0 cm long, 6.0-10.0 cm wide; lamina symmetric, margin entire, not dissected or lobed, apex rounded or 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 glossy green, hairs absent; oil dots absent; domatia absent; stipules present, free <from one another>, laterally placed <whether free or joined>, not encircling the twig, scale-like, fringed <fimbriate>, small <not easily visible to the eye>, not persistent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary <from between a leaf and branch>. Flowers on an unbranched axis; flowers not stalked, slightly asymmetric, 4.0-5.0 mm long, small (< or =10 mm diam.) 4-5 mm diam.; perianth present, green or yellow; ovary superior <seated above petals and sepals; hypogenous>, carpels joined (when more than one) <syncarpous> styles solitary <including joined together>.

Fruits: Fruits arranged on unbranched axis. Cones absent, fruit 25-35 mm long, 30.0-33.0 mm diam., fruit red, not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, drupe. To about 5 mm long about 2.5 mm long, not winged, longer than wide, < 1 mm diam. about 1.7 mm diam.

Distribution: Madang or Central.

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