Looking for Wakonai.

Saturday, 4th October.

The owner of the shop has just cleared some ground for a new garden a few miles away and found two new citrus.
One with leaves like Citrus warburgiana but without any thorns.

The other with willow shaped leaves.

If the first one is Citrus warburgiana, it would be the first time it has been found north of Port Moresby, but the lack of spines makes one think it is some other species.
While the second one is (for me) a completely new species.
This is certainly the most interesting thing so far in this journey.
I gave the names BR2 to the one with willow leaves and BR3 to the one wich looks like C. Warburgiana.

I ask where the trees are, and the answer is "Well, we were clearing the ground, so we cut them down, but do not worry, there must be others in the vicinity.".
The leaves on the branches brought to us were half dry, so I did not think it useful to take samples. We organize a survey for the next day.


Sunday, 5th October.

We go to the area of the cleared land. We search and search, but it is impossible to find the citrus with leaves like warburgiana. We find a tiny example of the one with willow leaves.

I pick the minimum possible. We wrap the branches in banana leaves and return home where I prepare the samples.

I go to look behind the house for the branches of the warburgiana-leaf citrus I had thrown away yesterday. I put them to rehydrate in water with a few drops of alcohol. The only water available here is the water of the Brown River.


Monday, 6th October.

I prepare the rehydrated samples of the warburgiana-leaf citrus and I leave for Port Moresby. There are neither flowers nor fruits, so no seeds. Local say these citrus grow in the mountains and that the rivers, floods and birds carry the seeds to the plain. The plants grow but end up dying because of the relative dryness and they do not fruit here.

I take this opportunity to switch my smartphone from 3G to 4G . Yes, there is 4G in PNG!

The introduction and sale of betel nuts is forbidden in Port Moresby which results in a lot of smuggling.
To fight this, checkpoints are located at the entrances of the city. This is the quantity seized in two weeks on the road Brown River to Port Moresby.