Flora of Papua New Guinea 
Lae National Herbarium 
10076 Euphorbiaceae 
Baccaurea papuana F.M. Bailey 
East Sepik Province; vicinity of Langu village; alluvial forest on 
flood plain of the Sanchi tributary, Sepik River; elev. s40 m, near 4° 
11’ S, 142° 44’ E. 
with 10075, 5 m treelet on riverbank, no basal swell, outer bark light 
brown, weakly fissured; branchlets moderately stout, terete, 
puberulous, apical bud perulate, the scales minutely pubescent; 
leaves alternate, spiral, not conferted, coriaceous, adaxial surface 
medium dull green, glabrous, somewhat bullate x abaxially yellow 
green, puberulous on the costa; petiole to 5 cm, terete, slightly 
swollen at both ends; lamina elliptic, typically 20.5 cm x 10 cm, 
apex shortly and bluntly acuminate, margins crenulate, base obtuse; 
leaf venation pinnate, laterals about 10-12 equispaced pairs, 
arcuate, closing by inframarginal loops or not, reticulum manifest 
with elevate crossbarring, main veins embossed above, raised 
beneath; inflorescence spiciform, in congested fascicles, among the 
leaves or from old wood, epedunculate, rachis c. 15 cm long, 
completely puberulent, flower buds numerous, pedicellate, globose, 
bracteolate, producing a heavy oppressive fragrance like Mangifera; 
perianth monochlamydeous, caliciform, apparently free, short-hairy, 
tepals 4 in opposed imbricated pairs, the flower ?diclinous, 
seemingly male with the pistil rudimentary, stamens c. 7, 
bilocellate, each cell globose, no staminodes, no appendages on 
the receptacle, the rudimentary gynoecium truncate, pubescent at 
the summit; fructescence seen on a separate individual next to the 
flowering specimen, the raceme hanging, fruits ovoid, c. 30 mm x 
25 mm, exocarp scabrid, ?indehiscent, rostrate; the inside 
oligospermous, seeds 6, longitudinally arranged about the centrum, 
fleshy and somewhat succulent, commissural faces flat, lamellae 3. 
Waskuk name=’mapiok;’ see^s are edible. Flowers and fruits placed 
in bottled coN. 
coll: W. Takeuchi 10076 
date: August 18, 1994 
det. WT 
