Aistopetalum viticoides

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Aistopetalum viticoides

Description

Trees up to 40 m tall, bole 20 m by 60 cm diameter, with or without buttresses. Leaves with petiole (1-)1.5-4(-7) cm, in-ternodes of rachis 1-3 cm, terete, channelled above, minutely strigose-puberulous. Stipules ovate-oblong, up to 7 by 3 mm, densely minutely puberulous beneath. Inflorescences of c. 25-100 flowers, up to 16 by 8 cm, subunits usually in opposite axils of most distal pair of leaves or in subdistal axils; Flowers with pedicel up to 2.5 mm long and from 0.7 mm thick merging into receptacle to 1.8 mm in diameter. Sepals ovate to lanceolate, 2.7-3.6 by 1.2-2.6 mm, glabrous to shortly strigose or strigose-hirsute beneath, ± densely shortly strigose above. Stamens with filaments 1.4-2.2 mm long, 0.2-0.3 mm wide at base, anthers cordate, obtuse or submucronate at apex, retuse at base, 0.6-0.8 by 0.6-0.7 by 0.3-0.4 mm. Ovary 0.7-1.2 by 1-1.5 mm, glabrous except for row of hairs along outside centre of each cell; Fruit ovoid to globular, up to 20 by 13-20 mm, glabrous, the styles slightly prominent around central-apical depression; in transverse section, fleshy layer c. 1-2 mm thick when dried, locules (4-)5-7 in a ring towards centre, each containing a single seed. Seeds oblong, c. 6 by 1.5 mm.

Distribution

Asia-Tropical: New Guinea present, from Vogelkop to central and southern Papua New Guinea present
Malesia: New Guinea, fairly widespread from Vogelkop to central and southern Papua New Guinea (absent from the tail).

Ecology

. .

Morphology

The flowers are greenish yellow, the calyx pale green, the disc yellow and the ovary and stigmas yellow or green. The fruits are pale, sordid yellow or orange when ripe, rarely greenish white, with rather soft, juiceless pulp and a very hard kernel. Young growth is olive-green.

Citation

Hoogland 1960: p. 335. – In: Austral. J. Bot.: f. 6
L.M. Perry 1949 – In: J. Arnold Arbor. 30: 159
Engl. 1928: p. 239. – In: Nat. Pflanzenfam., ed. 2: f. 138A-F