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

Gymnacranthera farquhariana var. zippeliana (Miq.) R.T.A.Schouten

Blumea Vol. 31: 482 (1986)

Other Literature: D.B. Foreman, Handbooks of the Flora of Papua New Guinea 178-180 (1978) Fig. 18.

Family: Myristicaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Non-timber species

Field Characters: Large canopy tree (10-25 m high) or Small sub-canopy tree; Bole cylindrical (12-20 cm diam.); straight (bole c. 15 m long); buttresses buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark brownish green, pale red, grey, or brown, slightly rough or smooth, slightly pustular, lenticels elongated vertically; Subrhytidome (under-bark) red or brown; less than 25 mm thick, 5.0-14.0; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze red or brown, markings absent, fibrous; inner blaze red or brown, markings absent, fibrous; bark exudate (sap) present, red or brown, flowing or not readily flowing (spotty), colour not changing on exposure to air, sticky; terminal buds not enclosed by leaves.

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

Leaves: Leaves spaced along branches, 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 slightly broadest above middle or broadest at or near middle, (8.0-) 16.0-21.0 (-27.0) cm, (3.5-) 6.0-8.5 cm; symmetric (to very slightly asymmetric), entire, not dissected or lobed, acuminate, venation pinnate, secondary veins open, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface pale green (whitish (glaucous), upper surface dark green or dull green, indumentum (hairs) absent; absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary, flowers on a branched axis, cones absent; flowers unisexual, unisexual with male and female flowers on different plants, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 3.0 (c.) mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.) (2-3 mm diam.); perianth present, with all sepals and/or petals (hence tepals) similar, inner perianth white or green; 3, some or partly joined; stamens 8 (in male flowers), absent, joined, free of the perianth; ovary superior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 1; styles absent.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on branched axis, fruit (15.0-) 20.0-30.0 mm long, yellow or orange, not spiny, fleshy, simple, indehiscent or dehiscent, capsule (by misinterpretation: mostly separating into 2 valves), drupe; seeds 1, about 10 mm long (c. 10 mm long), not winged (seed with bright red aril divided almost to base), broad (as wide as long), seed 1-10 mm diam. (c. 8 mm diam.).

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

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

Notes: Notes Previously known as Gymnacranthera paniculata (DC.) Warb. Var. zippeliana (Miq.) J.Sinclair.