Mossman mahogany

The Mossman mahogany usually grows to around 20 m (70 ft) high, occasionally to 30 m (100 ft), but it may flower and fruit when only 1 m (3 ft 3 in) high. The trunk can reach a diameter of up to 45 centimetres (18 in), and may be fluted or possess buttresses up to 1 m (3 ft) tall. It has bark that is grey-brown, smooth or with mild cracking, and which bears large conspicuous lenticels. The leafy twigs are also grey-brown and lenticellate. The compound leaves are arranged in whorls or spirals and are pinnate with 5 to 9 leaflets, usually with a terminal leaflet. The petioles are glabrous, about 7 cm (3 in) long, and swollen at the junction with the twig. The leaves have 5 to 9 glabrous leaflets which are dark green above and lighter below, and measure up to 18 by 7 cm (7 by 3 in). The proximal leaflets (i.e. the ones closest to the twig) are the smallest, with successive leaflets getting larger, and the terminal leaflet is the largest. The inflorescence is an axillary thyrse measuring up to 8 cm (3.1 in) long which is covered in minute tawny hairs. The sweetly scented flowers measure around 10 mm (0.39 in), and are creamy-green to white with usually 5 petals up to 10 by 2.2 mm (0.4 by 0.1 in). …

Goniocheton arborescens is native to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Taiwan, Malaysia, Borneo, Indonesia, New Guinea the Bismark Archipelago, Queensland, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. It is a common species, growing in a variety of rainforest habitats from sea-level to 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) elevation.

The Australian botanist David L. Jones wrote in his 1986 book Rainforest Plants of Australia that this species "has good potential as a garden plant and is of manageable dimensions".

The species epithet is from the Latin word arborescens, meaning 'tree-like', which may be a reference to its relatively small stature.