General Information |
Distribution | New Guinea, the Caroline and Mariana Islands, northeastern Australia (Queensland), and eastward in the Pacific region to the Marquesas and Austral Islands.
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Habit
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Large shrub or tree to 15(‒20) m meters tall, trunk 30‒40(‒100) cm in diameter; branchlets compressed, glabrous, bark wrinkled, leaf scars prominent.
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Leaves
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Leaves petiolate; blade broadly obovate, broadly elliptic to obovate-elliptic or rarely elliptic, 9.5‒18 cm long, 3.3‒10 cm wide, glabrous, subcoriaceous, apex obtuse to rounded or short-acuminate, base cuneate, usually decurrent, secondary veins 5‒8 on each side, often obscure, margin often slightly revolute; petiole 1.2‒4 cm long, 2‒4 mm wide, usually winged distally, base with free portion of interpetiolar stipules 1.5‒2 mm long, thick, blunt.
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Flowers
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Inflorescences corymbiform-cymose, 9‒23 cm long, 9‒11 cm wide including the corollas, branching 2‒3 times, with up to 16 flowers, glabrous, peduncle 4‒6 cm; bracts subtending axes 3‒5 mm long, 2‒3 mm broad, triangular-obtuse. Flowers with calyx glabrous, lobes 5‒7 mm long, 5‒8 mm broad, broadly ovate to semicircular obtuse, margin scarious; hypanthium 6‒7 mm long, obovoid-turbinate; corolla fragrant when fresh, white becoming yellow with age, glabrous, tube cylindric, 4‒5(‒7.5) cm long, 4‒5 mm wide medially, gradually broadened to 9‒12 mm wide distally, lobes 15‒25 mm long, 8‒15 mm wide, obtuse; stamens included, filaments 8‒11 mm long, anthers linear, 5‒10 mm long; style plus ovary 18‒25(‒65) mm long, glabrous, stigmatic lobes 2, ellipsoid, 3‒5 mm long.
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Fruit
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Fruit broadly ovoid-ellipsoid to subglobose, 3‒4.5 cm long, 2.5‒3.5 cm in diameter, slightly beaked, surface rugulose, becoming orange or bright red when ripe, with seeds embedded in orange pulp.
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Seeds
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Seeds numerous, ellipsoid, 1.7‒1.8 mm long, 1 mm wide, testa dark brown, foveolate.
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Notes
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Frequently planted around homes for its fragrant flowers that are used in garlands.
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Contributor
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David Lorence
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