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

Burckella polymera P.van Royen

Blumea Vol. 6: (1952)

Family: Sapotaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Non-timber species

Field Characters: Large canopy tree; Bole cylindrical; straight; buttresses buttresses present; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark brown, rough, scaly or flaky or slightly pustular, lenticels elongated vertically; Subrhytidome (under-bark) pink; less than 25 mm thick; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; pleasant; outer blaze orange, markings absent, fibrous; inner blaze orange, markings absent, fibrous; bark exudate (sap) present, white/milky, flowing, colour not changing on exposure to air, sticky; terminal buds not enclosed by leaves.

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

Leaves: Leaves clustered at end of branches, whorled (with more than two leaves at one node of a branchlet), 4-5, simple (a leaf composed of a single blade); petiole present, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade, not swollen; leaves broadest above middle, 25.0-32.0 cm, 9.5-12.0 cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, emarginate or retuse, venation pinnate, secondary veins open, not prominent, but visible, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface pale green, upper surface green, indumentum (hairs) present, indumentum (hairs) dense; absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence terminal, flowers arising from a single point (with flowers clustered in 3s), cones absent; flowers bisexual, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 22.0-25.0 mm long, diameter large (more than10 mm diam.) (c. 20 mm diam.); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth green or yellow; 5, some or partly joined; stamens 10, present, free of each other, free of the perianth; ovary superior, carpels joined (when more than one); styles solitary, 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence arising from single point, fruit not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, drupe; seeds 1, not winged, broad (as wide as long).

Distribution: Northern.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

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