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

Sterculia edelfeltii F.Muell.

Victorian Naturalist Vol. 3: 47 (1886)

Other Literature: Lembaga Penelitian Hutan 123-124 (1976)

Family: Malvaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Non-timber species

Field Characters: Small sub-canopy tree (up to 20 m high); Bole cylindrical (up to c. 45 cm diam.); straight (bole up to c. 10 m long); buttresses buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark brown or brownish green, rough; Subrhytidome (under-bark) green; less than 25 mm thick; bark blaze consisting of one layer; faintly to non-aromatic; outer blaze white or yellow (pale (straw-coloured), with stripes, fibrous; inner blaze yellow (pale (straw-coloured) or white, with stripes, fibrous; bark exudate (sap) absent; terminal buds not enclosed by leaves.

Indumentum: Complex hairs present (sparse), star-like (stellate); stinging hairs absent; mature twig indumentum (hairs) present when young or soon absent, hairs dense to sparse (stellate hairy).

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 broadest at or near middle, 9.0-15.0 cm, 5.5-8.0 cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, acuminate (shortly) to obtuse, venation pinnate, secondary veins open, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface pale green to green, upper surface green, indumentum (hairs) present, indumentum (hairs) sparse (scattered stellate hairs, particularly on lower surface); absent; domatia absent; stipules present, free, laterally placed, not encircling the twig, leafy (triangular), not fringed, large (c. 5 mm long), not persistent (soon dehiscent, only present at growing point of branchlets).

Flowers: Inflorescence axillary, flowers on a branched axis, cones absent; flowers unisexual, unisexual with male and female flowers on the same plant, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 7.0-8.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.) (c. 5-7 mm diam.); perianth present, with all sepals and/or petals (hence tepals) similar, inner perianth green or greenish red; 5, some or partly joined (forming a perianth tube and 5 perianth lobes); stamens 15 (c. (male flowers), absent, joined (to form a staminal tube around the ovary and style), free of the perianth; ovary superior, carpels separate (when more than one), locules 4; styles free, 4.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on branched axis, fruit presumably not spiny, aggregate, dehiscent, follicle; seeds about 10 mm long, not winged, seed 1-10 mm diam.

Distribution: Madang, Morobe, Eastern Highlands, Central & Milne Bay.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

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Notes: Notes The genus Sterculia was previously classified in the family Sterculiaceae. Sterculia edelfeltii is a very inadequately known species, such that its taxonomic status is unclear.