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

Horsfieldia sylvestris (Houtt.) Warb.

Nov. Act. Nat. Cur. Vol. 67: 337

Field Characters: Large trees 25 m high. Bole cylindrical 50 cm diam.; straight; buttresses present 50 cm high; spines absent; aerial roots absent; stilt roots absent. Bark dark brown, rough, scaly or flaky or pustular; lenticels irregular; subrhytidome red; bark thickness <25 mm thick, 10.0 mm thick; blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze red or brown, with stripes appearing as rings, fibrous; inner blaze red or brown, with stripes appearing as rings, fibrous; exudate present, red, flowing, not changing colour on exposure to air, sticky. Terminal buds enclosed by leaves; complex hairs present; star-like; stinging hairs absent; mature twig hairy; hairs dense.

Leaves: Spaced along branches <internodes readily visible>. Leaves spiral, simple; petiole present short, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade <not peltate>, not swollen; lamina broadest below middle, (17.0-) 20.0-35.0 (-45.0) cm long, 3.0-7.0 (-9.0) cm wide; lamina symmetric, margin entire, not dissected or lobed, apex acute (long) or acuminate, 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 or reddish brown, upper surface dark green, hairs present, dense; oil dots absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary <from between a leaf and branch> or on the trunk or branches <cauliflorous-ramiflorous>. Flowers on a branched axis; flowers unisexual, with male and female flowers on different plants <dioecious>, flowers stalked, with many planes of symmetry <actinomorphic>, 2.0-5.0 mm long, small (< or =10 mm diam.) 2-4 mm diam.; perianth present, with all sepals and/or petals (hence tepals) similar, red or yellowish brown (because of reddish brown hairs); inner perianth 2-(-3), some or partly joined splitting almost to base; stamens 8-16, filaments present, joined <connate> to form a staminal column, free of perianth; ovary superior <seated above petals and sepals; hypogenous>, carpels solitary <monomerous>, locules 1; styles absent (stigma sessile).

Fruits: Fruits arranged on branched axis (in groups of 2-10 fruits). Fruit 34-55 mm long, 25.0-35.0 mm diam., fruit dark yellow when mature or yellowish orange, not spiny, non-fleshy (leathery), simple, dehiscent, capsule. Seeds 1, not winged, as wide as long.

Distribution: Madang, East Sepik, Western, Central & New Britain.

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