Guioa contracta
Content
Description
Tree, 5-27 m high, dbh 8-20 cm;
Branchlets sericeous when young;
Leaves 1-3-jugate;
Inflorescences cauli- to ramiflorous (to axillary), branching basally to mainly along the terete, subsericeous, 1.3-18 cm long axis;
Flowers 3.5-4 mm in diam.
Sepals 5, ovate, margin pilose, with glands, outside and inside glabrous, pale green;
Petals 5, ovate to elliptic (to obovate), 1.7-2.8 by 0.5-1.3 mm, white;
Stamens 8;
Fruits with 1-3 well developed lobes, 1.4-1.9 by 1.3-2.4 cm, smooth to rugose, glabrous, not dehiscing to only (partly) dehiscing when completely ripe, red when fresh, blackish when dry;
Seeds obovoid, c. 8 by 7.5 mm;
Distribution
Asia-Tropical, Central Prov present, Madang present, Morobe present, Northern present, Papua New Guinea present
Malesia: Papua New Guinea (Madang, Morobe, Northern, and Central Prov.).
Notes
Guioa contracta is part of the G. rigidius-cM/a-complex and it is characterized by its rather large, almost glabrous, elliptic leaflets without papillae and domatia, and its distinctive hardly lobed fruits. The lobes do not narrow towards the axis in transverse section, but widen; the wall is very thick (the fruits dehisce late and presumably only partly); the pseudo-funicle is reduced to a rim only.