''Chisocheton polyandrus'', of the mahogany family ( Meliaceae), is a species of

pachycaul Pachycauls are plants with a disproportionately thick Trunk (botany), trunk for their height, and few branches. This can be the product of exceptional primary growth (as with Arecaceae, palms and cycads) or disproportioate secondary growth as with ...

ous, unbranched trees variously called "palmoids", "maypole trees" or "Corner model trees" (after Prof.

E.J.H. Corner Edred John Henry Corner FRS (12 January 1906 – 14 September 1996) was an English mycologist and botanist who occupied the posts of assistant director at the Singapore Botanic Gardens (1929–1946) and Professor of Tropical Botany at the Univ ...

who was the first to describe them as an architectural growth form) occurring among several families of unrelated trees. ''C. polyandrus'' is native to Borneo, and grows up to a height of in height, and may have small

buttress roots Buttress roots also known as plank roots are large, wide roots on all sides of a shallowly rooted tree. Typically, they are found in nutrient-poor tropical forest soils that may not be very deep. They prevent the tree from falling over (hence t ...

or even prop roots. It is topped by a tight circle of

indeterminate Indeterminate may refer to: In mathematics * Indeterminate (variable), a symbol that is treated as a variable * Indeterminate system, a system of simultaneous equations that has more than one solution * Indeterminate equation, an equation that ha ...

, once-pinnate leaves up to in length, which may eventually have up to fourteen pairs of leaflets, acquired one pair at a time over a period of several months or years, each leaflet measuring up to long by in width. In mature leaves the oldest pair may die when a new pair is formed. The unbranched inflorescences are up to long with the flowers occupying just the last foot (30 cm) or so, eventually hanging straight down as the weight of the fruit increases. The flowers are tubular, in length. Petals 5 or 6, white with red blush and having up to 14 stamens. The fruit has three seeds, each covered with a red

aril An aril (pronounced ), also called an arillus, is a specialized outgrowth from a seed that partly or completely covers the seed. An arillode or false aril is sometimes distinguished: whereas an aril grows from the attachment point of the see ...

References

polyandrus Trees of Borneo Endemic flora of Borneo Plants described in 1922 Taxa named by Elmer Drew Merrill {{Meliaceae-stub