| Type | Indigenous |
|---|---|
| Family | Lauraceae |
| Synonym | Tetranthera oleoides Meissn |
| Local Name | Matthi |
| Habit | Large sized tree |
| Botanical Features | Dioecious trees, to 25 m high, bark 8-10 mm thick; brown, smooth, slightly rugose; blaze yellowish-brown. Leaves simple, alternate, estipulate; petiole 10-30 mm long, stout, grooved above, glabrous; lamina 6.5-17 x 3-7.5 cm, oblong, elliptic-oblong or elliptic-lanceolate, base acute, apex acute or obtuse, margin entire, glabrous, reddish-brown beneath when dry, coriaceous; lateral nerves 8-12 pairs, pinnate, obscure, intercostae obscure. Flowers unisexual, yellowish, in umbellules, in axillary racemes ; peuncles to 6 mm long; bracts orbicular, pubescent; perianth short; lobes 6, 2.5 x 3 mm, ovate, obtuse, pubescent; stamens 9, in 3 rows, all filaments with sessile glands at the base, filaments hairy; staminodes 9, in 3-series, glandular at base; ovary half inferior, papillose. Fruit a berry, 2-2.5 cm across, subtended by the cupular perianth, red with white spots. |