Polyalthia coffeoides (Thw.) Benth.ex Hk.f. & Thoms.

Type
Indigenous
Family
Annonaceae
Synonym
Gutteria coffeoides Thw.
Local Name
Villa
Habit
Small sized tree
Botanical Features

Trees 15-25 m tall; bole straight with knots and tubercles; bark smooth, dark green, often mottled with greyish-white, young shoots slender, minutely puberulous; blaze yellow; branches horizontal. Leaves simple, alternate, distichous, estipulate, young leaves red at first; petiole 10-13 mm, stout, glabrous, grooved above; lamina 10-27 x 3.5-8.5 cm oblong, oblong-lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, base obtuse, cuneate-round or acute; apex acute or acuminate, margin entire, slightly undulate; coriaceous, glabrous and shiny above, lateral nerves 8-14 pairs, prominent beneath, pinnate, flowers bisexual greenish-yellow, solitary, fruit aggregate of berries, 2.5 x 1.5 cm, ovoid, apiculate, dark purple; seed one, grooved, smooth and shiny.