Melicytus ramiflorus: taxon details and analytics
- Domain
- Kingdom
- Plantae
- Phylum
- Tracheophyta
- Class
- Magnoliopsida
- Order
- Malpighiales
- Family
- Violaceae
- Genus
- Melicytus
- Species
- Melicytus ramiflorus
- Scientific Name
- Melicytus ramiflorus
Summary description from Wikipedia:
Melicytus ramiflorus
Melicytus ramiflorus, commonly known as hinahina, māhoe and whitey wood, is a species of small tree of the family Violaceae. It is endemic to New Zealand.
It grows up to 10 metres high with a trunk up to 60 cm in diameter, it has smooth, light bark and brittle twigs. The dark-green "alternate" leaves are 5–15 cm long and 3–5 cm wide and their edges are finely serrated (although this feature is less pronounced in younger plants). The plants are dioecious and the small flowers are yellowish in colouration, between 3 and 4 mm in diameter and occur in fascicles, growing straight out from naked twigs. The berries are a striking violet colour when ripe and are more or less spherical with a diameter of between 3 and 4 mm. Flowering occurs in late spring and on into summer while the berries appear later on in summer and also in autumn.
The berries of M. ramiflorus are eaten by a number of native birds, including the kererū and the tūī, while geckos of the genus Naultinus have also been observed to supplement their primarily insectivorous diet with consumption of these berries. It is also a host species for the caterpillars of the New Zealand endemic moth Austramathes purpurea. It is ubiquitous throughout lower altitude New Zealand forests and is frequently seen in areas of regenerating forest.
...Melicytus ramiflorus in languages:
- English
- Whiteywood
- English
- Mahoe
- English
- Whitey wood
- Māori
- Māhoe
- Māori
- hinahina
- Portuguese
- Mahoe
- Russian
- махоэ
Images from inaturalist.org observations:
We recommend you sign up for this excellent, free service.
Parent Taxon
Sibling Taxa
- Melicytus alpinus
- Melicytus angustifolius
- Melicytus chathamicus
- Melicytus crassifolius
- Melicytus dentatus
- Melicytus drucei
- Melicytus flexuosus
- Melicytus improcerus
- Melicytus lanceolatus
- Melicytus macrophyllus
- Melicytus micranthus
- Melicytus micranthus × ramiflorus
- Melicytus novae-zelandiae
- Melicytus obovatus
- Melicytus orarius
- Melicytus ramiflorus
- Melicytus samoensis
- Melicytus venosus































































































































































