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

Cananga odorata (Lam.) Hook.f. & Thomson

Flora Indica Vol. 1: 130 (1855)

Other Literature: D.B. Foreman, Checklist of the Vascular Plants of Bougainville 90-91 (1971) Fig. 91.

Family: Annonaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Minor hardwood

Field Characters: Large canopy tree (30-35 m high) or Small sub-canopy tree (to 20 m high); Bole cylindrical (50-100 cm diam., sometimes as small as 30 cm); straight (bole 10-30 m long); buttresses buttresses present (sometimes but then, not well-developed) or buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark dark green, grey (silvery), or reddish brown, rough, pustular (irregular lines of pustules), lenticels elongated vertically; Subrhytidome (under-bark) yellow or green; more than 25 mm thick, 25.0; bark blaze with two layers; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze reddish brown or brownish grey, markings absent, fibrous; inner blaze dark yellow or yellowish brown, markings absent or with stripes, fibrous; bark exudate (sap) absent; terminal buds not enclosed by leaves.

Indumentum: Complex hairs absent; stinging hairs absent; mature twig indumentum (hairs) absent.

Leaves: Leaves spaced along branches (sweetly aromatic when crushed), 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 at or near middle, 22.0-25.0 cm, 8.0 (c.) cm; symmetric (to slightly asymmetric), entire, not dissected or lobed, obtuse or acute, venation pinnate, secondary veins open, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface pale green, upper surface green, indumentum (hairs) absent; absent or present (minute); domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary or on the trunk or branches, flowers on a branched axis, cones absent; flowers bisexual (fragrant), stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 50.0 (c.) mm long, diameter large (more than10 mm diam.) (8-)10-15 mm diam.); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth yellow or green; 6, free (strap-like); stamens 100, absent, joined (forming a corona after dehiscence), free of the perianth; ovary superior, carpels separate (when more than one), locules 1 (per carpel); styles absent.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on branched axis (in umbel-like clusters), fruit 10.0-12.0 mm long, black, not spiny, slightly fleshy, aggregate, indehiscent, berry; seeds 3-15, about 10 mm long, not winged, narrow (longer than wide), seed 1-10 mm diam.

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

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

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