''Melicope rubra'', commonly known as the little evodia, is a species of small tree in the citrus family

Rutaceae The Rutaceae () is a family (biology), family, commonly known as the rueRUTACEAE
in Bo ...

, native to New Guinea and northeast Queensland. It was originally described as ''Euodia rubra'' in 1900. It has

trifoliate The following terms are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade is divided into two or more leaflets ...

leaves and pink

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

flowers arranged on branches below the leaves.

Description

''Melicope rubra'' is a tree that may grow to a height of with a trunk diameter of about , but flowers and fruits as a shrub. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs and are trifoliate on a petiole long. The leaflets are egg-shaped, long and wide, the leaflets sessile or on a petiolule up to long. The flowers are bisexual and arranged in panicles long on branches below the leaves. The

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s are more or less round to egg-shaped, long and joined at the base. The petals are pink, long and there are four

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s. Flowering occurs from February to June and the fruit consists of up to four follicles long and fused for at least half their length.

Taxonomy

The little evodia was first formally described as ''Euodia rubra'' by the German botanists Carl Adolf Georg Lauterbach and

Karl Moritz Schumann Karl Moritz Schumann (17 June 1851 – 22 March 1904) was a German botanist. Schumann was born in Görlitz. He was curator of the Berlin-Dahlem Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum, Botanisches Museum in Berlin-Dahlem from 1880 until 1894. ...

, based on plant material collected in New Guinea by Lauterbach in 1896. Their work was published in 1900 in Schumann's book, ''Die Flora der Deutschen Schutzgebiete in der Sudsee''. In 2001 the American botanist Thomas Gordon Hartley published a 329-page revision of the closely related genera '' Euodia'' and ''

Melicope ''Melicope'' is a genus of about 240 species of shrubs and trees in the family Rutaceae, occurring from the Hawaiian Islands across the Pacific Ocean to tropical Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Plants in the genus ''Melicope'' have simple or ...

'', in which he transferred this species to ''Melicope''.

Etymology

The genus name ''Melicope'' is from the Ancient Greek '' méli'' (honey), and ''

cope A cope ( ("rain coat") or ("cape")) is a liturgical long mantle or cloak, open at the front and fastened at the breast with a band or clasp. It may be of any liturgical colour. A cope may be worn by any rank of the Catholic or Anglican clerg ...

'' (to chop, cut or divide), which refers to the notches in the nectar glands. The

species epithet Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany) ...

''rubra'' is from the Latin '' ruber'', red.

Distribution and habitat

This species is native to northeastern Queensland (where it ranges from near Rossville southwards to the area around Cardwell) and New Guinea (where it is mostly found along the central chain of highlands). It grows in and adjacent to

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

, and also in monsoon forest and wet sclerophyll forest. Its altitudinal range in Queensland is from sea level to about , and in New Guinea.

Conservation status

This species is classified as

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

under the Queensland Government's ''

Nature Conservation Act 1992 The ''Nature Conservation Act 1992'' is an act of the Parliament of Queensland, Australia, that, together with subordinate legislation, provides for the legislative protection of Queensland's threatened biota. As originally published, it prov ...

''. , it has not been assessed by the

international Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

(IUCN).

Ecology

Various species of honeyeaters and lorikeets visit the flowers for nectar, and the seeds are eaten by Macleay's honeyeaters (''Xanthotis macleayanus''). The tree also serves as one of the host plants for the Ulysses butterfly (''Papilio ulysses'') and the Emperor Gum Moth (''Opodiphthera eucalypti'').

Cultivation

The little evodia has become a popular choice for both private gardens and public parks and streets, due to its small size, colourful flowers and the birds and butterflies which are attracted to it. Around 95 plants of this species have been planted by Cairns Regional Council around the city.

Gallery

File:Melicope-rubra-SF24050-01.jpg, Young street tree in Cairns File:Melicope-rubra-SF24049-02.jpg, Foliage and flowers File:Melicope rubra.jpg, Flowers close-up File:Melicope-rubra-SF24050-04.jpg, Ripe fruit File:Melicope rubra fruit.jpg, Dehisced fruit File:Melicope-rubra-SF24050-09.jpg, Old fruit File:Melicope-rubra-SF24051-07.jpg, A Yellow Honeyeater ('' Stomiopera flava'') gathering nectar in a little evodia

References

External links

View a map
of herbarium records of this species at the

Australasian Virtual Herbarium The ''Australasian Virtual Herbarium'' (AVH) is an online resource that allows access to plant specimen data held by various Australian and New Zealand herbaria. It is part of the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA), and was formed by the amalgama ...

View observations
of this species on

iNaturalist iNaturalist is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit social network of naturalists, citizen scientists, and biologists built on the concept of mapping and sharing observations of biodiversity across the globe. iNaturalist may be accessed via its web ...

See images
of this species on Flickriver {{Taxonbar, from1=Q15392799 rubra Sapindales of Australia Flora of New Guinea Flora of Queensland Plants described in 1900 Taxa named by Carl Adolf Georg Lauterbach Taxa named by Karl Moritz Schumann Taxa named by Thomas Gordon Hartley