Guioa sarcopterifructa Welzen

Sapindaceae

Welzen, P.C. van (1997) Austrobaileya 5: 104. Type: Qld, Big Tableland, 9 Jan 1996, K. R. McDonald 21; holo: QRS; Iso: L.

Seldom exceeding 30 cm dbh. Pale brown, hard, brittle stripes in the inner blaze.

Leaflet stalks short or nil. Leaflet blades about 3.5-8.5 x 1.7-3.2 cm. One or two foveoles on the underside of the leaflet blade. Compound leaf rhachis channelled on the upper surface with a ridge running down the channel. Midrib raised on the upper surface of the leaflet blades.

Flowers about 4 mm diam. Sepals about 2-4 x 2-4 mm. Petals obovate, about 2.9-3.1 x 1.5-2.1 mm. Each petal with a 2-lobed scale on the inner surface. Stamens eight. Disk unilateral.

Capsules 3-lobed, about 2.5 x 2.2 cm overall before dehiscence, tapering to the base and the persistent calyx lobes. Capsules opening widely, valves glabrous on the inner surface. Seeds about 7-8 mm long, completely or almost completely enclosed in an orange or yellow aril, fimbriate at the apex. Cotyledons green, transversely folded, radicle about 4-5 mm long.

Cotyledons thick and fleshy, about 15-17 x 4-5 mm. First pair of leaves with about seven leaflets, lateral leaflets with toothed margins and a raised midrib, terminal leaflet with a lobed margin. Rhachis ridged on the upper surface and margins narrowly winged. At the tenth leaf stage: compound leaves consist of about 10-14 leaflets terminated by a subulate point. Leaflet blades shortly petiolate, asymmetric particularly at the base. Domatia (usually no more than one per leaflet) are pits on the underside, located close to the midrib in the basal half of the leaflet blade. Terminal bud lightly clothed in golden hairs. Compound leaf rhachis grooved on the upper surface but with a ridge running down the middle. Seed germination time 10 to 12 days.

Occurs in NEQ. Altitudinal range from 650-1000 m. Grows as an understory tree in well developed upland and mountain rain forest. Also occurs in New Guinea.

Guioa pteropoda Radlk., Sapind. Holl.-Ind. 11: 41(1879), Type: New Guinea, Ansus, Beccari it. sec. 16; holo: FI. Guioa crenifoliola Merr. & L.M.Perry, Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 21: 514(1940), Type: NETHERLANDS NEW GUINEA: 4 km southwest of Bernhard Camp, Idenburg River, Brass 13082 (TYPE), March 1939, alt. 850 m.