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

Polyosma integrifolia Blume

Bijdragen tot de Flora van Nederlandsch Indie Vol. 13: 659 (1826)

Field Characters: Small trees 5-15 m high. Bole cylindrical 10-20 cm diam.; straight bole up to about 5 m long or slightly crooked; buttresses absent; spines absent; aerial roots absent; stilt roots absent. Bark brown or grey, rough; subrhytidome green; bark thickness <25 mm thick. Terminal buds not enclosed by leaves; complex hairs absent; stinging hairs absent; mature twig without hairs.

Leaves: Spaced along branches <internodes readily visible>. Leaves opposite, simple; petiole present 10-25 mm long, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade <not peltate>, not swollen; lamina broadest at or near middle, (4.0-) 5.0-18.0 cm long, 1.5-5.0 (-8.0) cm wide; lamina symmetric, margin serrate to dentate (toothed), 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 present; lower surface green or pale green, upper surface 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>, 5.0-8.0 mm long, small (< or =10 mm diam.) about 5 mm diam.; perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals, cream-coloured or white; inner perianth 4, some or partly joined to form a corolla tube; stamens 4 (slightly shorter than petals), filaments present, free of each other; ovary inferior <seated below the petals and sepals; epigenous>, carpels joined (when more than one) <syncarpous>, locules 1; styles solitary <including joined together>, 1.

Fruits: Fruits arranged on unbranched axis. Fruit 5-7 (-10) mm long, 3.0-4.0 mm diam., fruit green when immature, blue, or purple when mature, not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, drupe. Seeds 1, not winged.

Distribution: Southern Highlands, Manus & Morobe.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

Notes: Polyosma has previously been placed in the Cunoniaceae, Escalloniaceae, Grossullariaceae and Saxifragaceae families.