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

Fagraea racemosa Jack

Flora Indica Vol. 2: 35 (1824)

Other Literature: B.J. Conn, Handbooks of the Flora of Papua New Guinea 151-153 (1995) Fig. 33.

Family: Gentianaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Non-timber species

Field Characters: Small sub-canopy tree (2-10 m high, rarely to 16 m); Bole cylindrical; slightly crooked or straight; buttresses buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark grey or pale brown, slightly rough, fissured; Subrhytidome (under-bark) green; less than 25 mm thick; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze white or yellow (pale (straw-coloured); inner blaze white or yellow (pale (straw-coloured); bark exudate (sap) absent; terminal buds not enclosed by leaves.

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

Leaves: Leaves spaced along branches, opposite (in pairs, opposite one another on the branchlet), simple (a leaf composed of a single blade); petiole present, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade, not swollen; leaves occasionally broadest above middle, broadest at or near middle, broadest below middle, or equally broad throughout much of length, 15.0-30.0 cm, 8.0-15.0 cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, rounded or usually obtuse, venation pinnate, secondary veins open, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface pale green, upper surface dark green, indumentum (hairs) absent; absent; domatia absent; stipules present, joined, joined across twigs, encircling the twig, collar-like, not fringed, large, persistent.

Flowers: Inflorescence terminal, flowers on a branched axis, cones absent; flowers bisexual, not stalked or stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 20.0-40.0 mm long, diameter large (more than10 mm diam.) (20-30 mm diam.); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth white or pink (at base (sometimes); 5, some or partly joined; 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 10.0-25.0 mm long, blue or red, not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, berry; seeds 100 (c.), barely visible (to 1 mm long) (c. 1 mm long), not winged, irregular (irregularly angular), seed 1-10 mm diam. (c. 1 mm diam.).

Distribution: West Sepik, East Sepik, Madang, Morobe, Western, Gulf, Central, Northern, Milne Bay, Papuan Islands & Bougainville.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details