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

Dracontomelon dao Merr. & Rolfe

Philippine Journal of Science Vol. 3: 108 (1908)

Other Literature: Ding Hou, Flora Malesiana, Series 1 470-473 (1978) Fig. 31-32.

Family: Anacardiaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Occasional timber species

Field Characters: Large canopy tree (up to 36 m high); Bole cylindrical (70-100 cm diam.); straight (bole c. 15 m high); buttresses buttresses present; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark brown, rough, slightly pustular or slightly scaly or flaky, lenticels irregular; Subrhytidome (under-bark) pale green; less than 25 mm thick, 10.0; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze pink, markings absent, fibrous; inner blaze pink, markings absent, fibrous; bark exudate (sap) present, colourless, not readily flowing (spotty), colour changing on exposure to air, to golden-coloured (pale honey-like), slightly sticky; terminal buds not enclosed by leaves.

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

Leaves: Leaves spaced along branches, spiral (leaves occurring singly at a node and arranged spirally up the branchlet), compound (a leaf made up from two or more leaflets); petiole present, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade, at base swollen; leaves pinnate (unbranched with more than three leaflets); petiolule not swollen; rachis present, absent, absent; leaves with a terminal leaflet (the number of leaflets odd - imparipinnate), broadest below middle, 7.0-11.0 cm, 3.3-6.0 cm, sub-leaflets opposite, asymmetric, terminal developing leaflet buds straight; venation pinnate, secondary veins open, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface pale green, upper surface dark green, indumentum (hairs) absent; absent; domatia present, scattered along midrib; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary (often leaf already fallen off), flowers on a branched axis, cones absent; flowers bisexual, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 6.0-7.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.) (5-6 mm diam.); perianth present, with all sepals and/or petals (hence tepals) similar, inner perianth pale green; 5, free; stamens 5, present, free of each other, joined to the perianth; ovary superior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 2; styles solitary, 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on branched axis, fruit 12.0-25.0 mm long, 25.0-30.0 mm diam., yellow or green, not spiny, slightly fleshy, simple, indehiscent, drupe; seeds 1, about 10 mm long, not winged, broad (as wide as long) (wider than long), seed more than 10 mm diam. (c. 20 mm diam.).

Distribution: West Sepik, Madang, Morobe, Western, Gulf, Central, Northern, Milne Bay, Papuan Islands, New Britain, New Ireland & Manus.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

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