Elaeocarpus varunua Buch.-Ham.

Habit

Tree

Family Description

Trees. Leaves alternate, simple, pinnately veined, stipulate. Flowers axillary, in racemes, fascicles or solitary, bisexual, actinomorphic. Sepal 4-5, free or connate at base. Petals 4-5, rarely united at base, toothed or fimbriate at apex. Disc flat or rounded and lobed. stamens 20- many, free; anthers opening at apex by lateral or transverse slits. ovary superior, 2-5 celled; 2-20 ovules per cell, placentation axile; style 1; stigma not distinct. Fruit a capsule or drupe; seeds arillate or not.

Genus Description

Trees. Leaves weakly crenate-serrate to +/- entire, often with small glands at axils of veins beneath, turning red on withering; petioles often swollen at apex. Flowers in recemes borne amongst or below the leaves. Sepals 5, free. Petals 5, fimbriate or toothed with 10-60 +/- linear divisions. Disc rounded, 5 or 10-lobed. Stamens 20-many; anthers dehiscing by transverse slits at apex., prolonged or into an awn and sometimes bearing short ( c 0.5mm) bristles. Ovary 3-5-celled; 2-5 ovules per cell. Fruit a drupe; stone smooth or rugose with 1-5 cells; seeds without arils, 1-2 per cell.

Species description

Tree 10-20m. Leaves oblong-elliptic, 12-20x5-8cm, acuminate, base rounded or cuneate, glabrous above, thinly pubescent on veins beneath, and often with glands at branches of lateral veins towards the margin; petioles (2-)4-6cm. Racemes 8-10cm, 10-15-flowered; pedicels 8-12mm. Sepals narrowly triangular, 8-10xc2mm, tomentose, petals white, oblong, 8-10x3-3.5mm, thickned at base, densely sericeous outside outside, divided in upper third into c 15 segments. Stamens c 28, 5-7mm; awns 1-1.5mm. Ovary 3-celled. Fruit oblong-ovoid, 1.5-1.8x1cm; stone 3-grooved, finely rugose, 1-celled, 2-seeded.