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

Palaquium galactoxylum (F.Muell.) H.J.Lam var. salomonense (C.T.White) P.Royen

Blumea Vol. 10: 592 (1960)

Family: Sapotaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Commercial hardwood Tradename: Pencil Cedar

Field Characters: Large canopy tree (25-40 m high, rather taller); Bole cylindrical (30-100 cm diam.); straight (bole 20-27 m long); buttresses buttresses present (buttresses up to 2 m high); spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark white, grey, or brown, rough, fissured; Subrhytidome (under-bark) green, red, or dark brown; less than 25 mm thick, 20.0-25.0; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze pale yellow or slightly pink, markings absent; inner blaze pale yellow or slightly pink, markings absent; 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 or absent, hairs sparse (hairs minute and appressed).

Leaves: Leaves clustered at end of branches, spiral (leaves occurring singly at a node and arranged spirally up the branchlet), simple (a leaf composed of a single blade); petiole present, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade, not swollen; leaves broadest above middle, 9.0-23.0 cm, 4.0-12.0 cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, rounded, venation pinnate, secondary veins open, not prominent, but visible, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface pale green or pale brown, upper surface green, indumentum (hairs) absent (by misinterpretation) or present, indumentum (hairs) dense or sparse (hairs minute and appressed); absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary (usually below leaves) or on the trunk or branches, flowers single (appearing clustered because internodes short and occurring below leaves) or usually flowers arising from a single point, cones absent; flowers bisexual, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 9.0-11.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth pale green; 6, some or partly joined; stamens 6, present, free of each other, joined to the perianth; ovary superior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 6; styles solitary, 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence single, fruit 25.0-30.0 mm long, green (dark (possibly immature), not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, berry; seeds 1-2, to about 5 mm long (2-2.5 mm long), not winged, broad (as wide as long) (laterally compressed), seed 1-10 mm diam. (1-1.5 mm diam.).

Distribution: Morobe, Western, Gulf, Central, Milne Bay, Papuan Islands, New Britain & Bougainville.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

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Notes: Notes Two varieties are recognised, namely Palaquium galactoxylum var. galactoxylum which is restricted to Australia and var. salomonense (C.T.White) P.Royen. Palaquium galactoxylum var. galactoxylum has petioles 3-8 mm long, whereas var. salomonense has petioles 8-25 mm long.