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

Serianthes minahassae subsp. fosbergii Kanis

Brunonia Vol. 2: 302 (1980)

Other Literature: I.C. Nielsen, Flora Malesiana, Series I 159 (1992)

Family: Fabaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Non-timber species

Field Characters: Emergent tree or Large canopy tree (25-35 m high); Bole cylindrical (60-70 cm diam.); straight (bole 12-27 m long); buttresses buttresses present (buttresses up to 2 m high); spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark grey, slightly rough or smooth, pustular, lenticels elongated vertically; Subrhytidome (under-bark) pale orange; less than 25 mm thick; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic or strongly aromatic; onion-like (garlic-like); outer blaze pale yellow or pale brown, markings absent; inner blaze pale yellow or pale brown, markings absent; bark exudate (sap) present, colourless, not readily flowing (spotty), colour not changing on exposure to air, not sticky; terminal buds not enclosed by leaves.

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

Leaves: Leaves spaced along branches, spiral (leaves occurring singly at a node and arranged spirally up the branchlet), compound (a leaf made up from two or more leaflets); petiole present, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade, not swollen (however, petiole gland 2-4(-5) mm long, elliptic, raised and concave on top); leaves bipinnate (with the rachis branched once); petiolule swollen (slightly (at base, slightly pulvinus-like); rachis present, absent, absent; leaves without a terminal leaflet (the number of leaflets even - paripinnate), equally broad throughout much of length, 0.5-1.0 cm, 0.2-0.4 cm, leaflets opposite (only distal pair of pinnae) to leaflets alternate, asymmetric; venation pinnate (with mid-vein sub-central or at a distance of 1/3 the width to one margin), secondary veins open, not prominent, but visible, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface pale green, upper surface dark green, indumentum (hairs) present (upper surface almost glabrous), indumentum (hairs) dense to sparse; absent; domatia absent; stipules absent (by misinterpretation because soon decidous) to present, free, laterally placed, not encircling the twig, hair-like to leafy (linear or filiform), not fringed, small, not persistent (only present in seedlings).

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary, flowers on a branched axis, cones absent; flowers bisexual, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, (6.0-) 7.0-8.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.) (c. 7 mm diam.); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth white (especially on inside) or slightly green; 5, some or partly joined; stamens 100, present, joined (to form a staminal tube), joined to the perianth (staminal tube united with corolla); ovary superior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 2; styles solitary, 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on branched axis, fruit 160.0-220.0 mm long, brown or black, not spiny, non-fleshy, simple, usually indehiscent or dehiscent, legume; seeds much more than 10 mm long (17-26 mm long), not winged, broad (as wide as long) (ellipsoid), seed 1-10 mm diam. (6.5-9 mm diam.).

Distribution: New Britain, New Ireland & Bougainville.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

Notes: Notes This subspecies is classified in Fabaceae subfamily Mimosoideae or in the separate family Mimosaceae. Previously known as Albizia melanesica Fosb.