Mossman mahogany (Goniocheton arborescens)

Mossman mahogany (Goniocheton arborescens) is a species of plant in the Meliaceae, a small to large tree, up to 20-30 meters tall, flowering and fruiting when only 1 meter high, the trunk has a diameter of up to 45 cm, the bark is gray-brown, smooth or with light cracks.

The leaves are opposite, 5 pairs or 10 pieces and petioles 0.5-1 cm long. The leaves are up to 18 cm long, up to 9 cm wide, a main vein in the middle with many small pinnate veins, a pointed tip, dark green upper side, lighter and glabrous underside.



The inflorescence is an axillary thyrse measuring up to 8 cm covered with small yellow-brown hairs. Flowers about 10 mm long, creamy green to white, usually 5 petals 10 mm long and 2.2 mm wide. Stamen tubes arise from the base of the petals, 10 anthers 1 mm long at the distal end.

The capsule fruit is round and slightly flat, up to 3 cm in diameter, bald, bright red and contains 5 seeds.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Sapindales
Family: Meliaceae
Genus: Goniocheton Blume in Bijdr. Fl. Ned. Ind.: 176 (1825)
Species: Goniocheton arborescens Blume in Bijdr. Fl. Ned. Ind.: 177 (1825)

HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS

Alliaria arborescens (Blume) Kuntze in Revis. Gen. Pl. 1: 109 (1891)
Dysoxylum arborescens (Blume) Miq. in Ann. Mus. Bot. Lugduno-Batavi 4: 24 (1868)
Trichilia arborescens (Blume) Spreng. in Syst. Veg., ed. 16. 4(2): 252 (1827)

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS

Aglaia halmaheirae Miq. (1868)
Aglaia macrophylla Teijsm. & Binn. in Natuurk. Tijdschr. Ned.-Indië 27: 42 (1864)
Alliaria halmaheirae (Miq.) Kuntze (1891)
Alliaria kunthiana (A.Juss.) Kuntze (1891)
Alliaria maingayi (Hiern) Kuntze (1891)
Alliaria nernstii (F.Muell.) Kuntze (1891)
Dysoxylum arborescens f. ceramicum Miq. (1868)
Dysoxylum arborescens var. timorense (Miq.) C.DC. in A.L.P.P.de Candolle & A.C.P.de Candolle, Monogr. Phan. 1: 489 (1878)
Dysoxylum arborescens f. timorense Miq. (1868)
Dysoxylum forsythianum Warb. in Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 13: 343 (1891)
Dysoxylum gjellerupii C.DC. in Nova Guinea 8: 1012 (1914)
Dysoxylum halmaheirae (Miq.) C.DC. (1878)
Dysoxylum halmaheirae var. subobovatum C.DC. (1878)
Dysoxylum insulare Pierre in Fl. Forest. Cochinch.: t. 347 B (1897)
Dysoxylum kunthianum (A.Juss.) Miq. (1868)
Dysoxylum maingayi Hiern in J.d.Hooker, Fl. Brit. India 1: 547 (1875)
Dysoxylum nernstii F.Muell. in Fragm. 5: 176 (1866)
Dysoxylum novohebridanum C.DC. in Bull. Herb. Boissier, sér. 2, 6: 983 (1906)
Dysoxylum rubrum Merr. in Publ. Bur. Sci. Gov. Lab. 35: 32 (1905)
Dysoxylum sibuyanense Elmer in Leafl. Philipp. Bot. 9: 3376 (1937)
Epicharis kunthiana A.Juss. in Bull. Sci. Nat. Géol. 23: 238bis (1830)
Goniocheton insularis Pierre (1897)
Hartighsea acuminata Miq. in Fl. Ned. Ind., Eerste Bijv.: 504 (1861)
Hartighsea sumatrana Miq. (1861)

PUBLICATIONS

Plunkett, G.M., Ranker, T.A., Sam, C. & Balick, M.J. (2022). Towards a checklist of the vascular flora of Vanuatu. Candollea 77: 105-118.

VERNACULAR NAME

Chinese (simplified): 小叶樫木
Chinese (traditional): 小葉樫木
English: Mossman mahogany
Indonesian: Salem
Japanese: コウトウセンダン
Java: Salem

Aryo Bandoro
Dlium TheDlium
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