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

Rhodamnia blairiana var. propinqua (C.T.White) A.J.Scott

Kew Bulletin Vol. 33: 455 (1979)

Other Literature: A.J. Scott, Kew Bulletin Vol. 33: 455-456 (1979)

Field Characters: Small trees 10-15 m high. Bole cylindrical 15 cm diam.; straight; buttresses absent; spines absent; aerial roots absent; stilt roots absent. Bark brown, rough, scaly or flaky or fissured; subrhytidome dark red; bark thickness <25 mm thick, 3.0-10.0 mm thick; blaze consisting of one layer; strongly aromatic; pleasant celery-like; outer blaze red or brown, markings absent, fibrous; inner blaze brown or red, markings absent, fibrous; exudate present, colourless, spotty, not changing colour on exposure to air, slightly sticky. Terminal buds not enclosed by leaves; complex hairs absent; stinging hairs absent; mature twig hairy or mature twig without hairs; hairs sparse.

Leaves: Spaced along branches <internodes readily visible>. Leaves opposite, simple; petiole present 5-8 mm long, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade <not peltate>, not swollen; lamina broadest below middle, 5.0-9.0 cm long, 2.3-4.6 cm wide; lamina symmetric, margin entire, not dissected or lobed, apex acuminate or shortly long-tapering, venation trinerved <three large veins arising from the base>, secondary veins open <spaced far apart to easily see tertiary veins>, prominent, intramarginal veins present; lower surface brown with red-brown hairs or green, upper surface green, hairs present, sparse with white hairs or dense; oil dots present; 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>, 10.0 mm long, small (< or =10 mm diam.); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals, white; inner perianth 4, free; stamens 100, filaments present, free of each other, free of perianth; 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 15-20 mm long, 12.0-15.0 mm diam., fruit red, not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent, berry. Seeds 100, not winged, as wide as long.

Distribution: Morobe, Papuan Islands & Milne Bay.

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