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

Lepiniopsis ternatensis Valeton

Annales du Jardin Botanique de Buitenzorg Vol. 12(2): 252-254 (1895) Fig. 28.

Field Characters: Small trees 6-17 m high (with 3-whorled branches). Bole cylindrical up to about 45 cm diam.; straight bole up to about 10 m long; buttresses absent; spines absent; aerial roots absent; stilt roots absent. Bark pale brown, rough, slightly fissured or pustular; lenticels irregular or elongated vertically; subrhytidome yellow; bark thickness <25 mm thick, 8.0-10.0 mm thick; blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze brownish yellow or brown, markings absent, granular without splinters; inner blaze brownish yellow or brown, markings absent, granular without splinters; exudate present also on branchlets and leaves, white, flowing, not changing colour on exposure to air, sticky. Terminal buds not enclosed by leaves; complex hairs absent; stinging hairs absent; mature twig without hairs.

Leaves: Clustered at end of branches <internodes indistinct>. Leaves whorled, 4, simple; petiole present 1-3.5 cm long, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade <not peltate>, not swollen; lamina broadest at or near middle or usually broadest above middle, (9.0-) 14.5-20.0 (-26.0) cm long, (3.0-) 6.0-8.0 cm wide; lamina symmetric, margin entire, not dissected or lobed, apex 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, upper surface dark green, hairs absent; oil dots absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary <from between a leaf and branch>. Flowers on an unbranched axis; flowers bisexual, stalked, with many planes of symmetry <actinomorphic> perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals, white corolla lobes or orange corolla tube; inner perianth 5, some or partly joined; stamens 5, filaments present, free of each other, joined to perianth <epipetalous/episepalous> ovary superior <seated above petals and sepals; hypogenous>, carpels joined (when more than one) <syncarpous>, locules 2; styles solitary <including joined together>, 1.

Fruits: Fruits arranged on unbranched axis. Fruit 25-50 mm long, 15.0-20.0 mm diam., fruit almost black when ripe or red, not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, drupe. Seeds 2-3, much more than 10 mm long 20-30 mm long, not winged, longer than wide, >10 mm diam. about 20 mm diam.

Distribution: Morobe, Western, West Sepik, Gulf, Madang, Central, New Britain & Papuan Islands.

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