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

Calophyllum soulattri Burm.f.

Flora Indica Vol. 2: 121 (1768)

Other Literature: P.F. Stevens, Handbooks of the Flora of Papua New Guinea 103-105 (1995)

Family: Clusiaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Major exportable hardwood

Field Characters: Large canopy tree (up to c. 26 m high) or Small sub-canopy tree (5-10 m high); Bole cylindrical (c. 30 cm diam.); straight (bole up to c. 20 m long); buttresses buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark yellow when young or brown, rough or smooth (when immature), scaly or flaky (,) or fissured (strongly (more shallowly fissured at higher altitudes); Subrhytidome (under-bark) yellow; less than 25 mm thick, 5.0-8.0; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze pink or pale brown, markings absent, slightly fibrous; inner blaze pink or pale brown, markings absent, slightly fibrous; bark exudate (sap) present, white/milky or yellow, not readily flowing (spotty), colour changing on exposure to air, to yellowish brown, sticky; terminal buds not enclosed by leaves.

Indumentum: Complex hairs absent; stinging hairs absent; mature twig indumentum (hairs) present or absent, hairs dense to sparse.

Leaves: Leaves spaced along branches, opposite (in pairs, opposite one another on the branchlet), simple (a leaf composed of a single blade); petiole present, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade, not swollen; leaves broadest at or near middle, (4.5-) 7.0-29.0 cm, (1.5-) 2.0-10.0 cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, acute to acuminate, venation pinnate, secondary veins closed, prominent to not prominent, but visible, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface pale green, upper surface pale green, indumentum (hairs) absent or sometimes present, indumentum (hairs) dense; absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary, flowers on an unbranched axis, cones absent; flowers bisexual?, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 5.0-9.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.) (5-8 mm diam.); perianth present, with all sepals and/or petals (hence tepals) similar, inner perianth white (with anthers yellow); 4, free; stamens 70-130, present, free of each other, free of the perianth; ovary superior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 1; styles solitary, 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on unbranched axis, fruit 20.0 (c.) mm long, dark green, blue, or almost black, not spiny, non-fleshy, simple, indehiscent, drupe; seeds 1, about 10 mm long (7-12 mm long), not winged, broad (as wide as long), seed 1-10 mm diam. (6-12 mm diam.).

Distribution: West Sepik, East Sepik, Madang, Morobe, Western Highlands, Western, Gulf, Central, Northern, Milne Bay, New Britain, Manus & Bougainville.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

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Notes: Notes Often included in the family Guttiferae.