PNGTrees – Polyalthia glauca (Miq.) F.Muell.

 

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

Polyalthia glauca (Miq.) F.Muell.

Descriptive Notes of Papuan Plants Vol. 1: 95 (1877)


Family: Annonaceae
Dicotyledon
No. Timber species Occasional timber species

Field Characters: Large trees 30-36 m high. Bole cylindrical 50-60 cm diam.; straight bole 20 m long; buttresses absent; spines absent; aerial roots absent; stilt roots absent. Bark grey or brown, smooth with small horizontal ridges; subrhytidome yellow; bark thickness <25 mm thick, 10.0 mm thick; blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; unpleasant; outer blaze pale yellow, with stripes, fibrous; inner blaze pale yellow, with stripes, fibrous; exudate absent. Terminal buds not enclosed by leaves; complex hairs absent; stinging hairs absent; mature twig without hairs.

Leaves: Spaced along branches <internodes readily visible>. Leaves spiral, simple; petiole present, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade <not peltate>, not swollen; lamina equally broad throughout much of length, 9.0-16.0 cm long, 3.4-4.5 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>, not prominent, but visible, intramarginal veins absent; lower surface blue-green glaucous, upper surface dark green, hairs absent; oil dots absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence on the trunk or branches <cauliflorous-ramiflorous>. Flowers single <solitary> or flowers arising from a single point; flowers bisexual, stalked, with many planes of symmetry <actinomorphic>, 30.0-35.0 mm long, large (>10 mm diam.) 20-30 mm diam.; perianth present, with all sepals and/or petals (hence tepals) similar, cream-coloured or pale yellow; inner perianth 6, free; stamens 100, filaments present very short, free of each other, free of perianth; ovary superior <seated above petals and sepals; hypogenous>, carpels separate (when more than one) <apocarpous>, locules 1 (per carpel); styles solitary <including joined together>, 1.

Fruits: Fruits arising from single point. Fruit 14-25 mm long, 10.0-20.0 mm diam., fruit red, black when mature, or purple, not spiny, fleshy leathery, simple, indehiscent, drupe. Seeds 2, barely visible (to 1 mm long) about 1.5 mm long, not winged, as wide as long, < 1 mm diam. about 1.5 mm wide.

Distribution: Milne Bay, Madang, Morobe & Western.


Polyalthia glauca
Botanical records
in PNGplants database

Map details



Notes: Locally used for framing and walls of houses.