Melicope clusiifolia
Hawaiian endemic Rutaceae shrub or small tree with whorled, variably shaped leaves bearing a weak anise odor, dioecious or functionally unisexual flowers in glabrous cymes, and wrinkled, four-segmented fruit capsules that split open to reveal black seeds, distributed on Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, Moloka‘i, Lāna‘i, Maui, and Hawai‘i in mesic to wet forests and designated NatureServe G3 (Vulnerable) due to threats from invasive plants, feral ungulates, and seed predation by rodents
Common Names
Alani, Kakaemoa, Kukaemoa
Summary
Kukaemoa is an evergreen broadleaf native to Hawaiʻi, occurring as a shrub or small tree 2–10 m tall. It features whorls of 2–8 leaves per node; leaves are obovate to elliptic-obovate, 2.5–30 cm long and 1.5–6 cm wide, with a glossy upper surface and a paler lower surface; margins can be revolute and a weak anise odor may be present. Flowers are perfect or functionally unisexual, with glabrous inflorescences in fasciculate cymes; fruit consists of four-segmented capsules that are green to reddish-green or brown, splitting to reveal black seeds.
Distribution covers all main Hawaiian islands except Kahoʻolawe and Niʻihau, and habitat is mesic to wet forests. Threats include competition with alien invasive plants, trampling by feral ungulates, and seed consumption by rodents; conservation status is NatureServe G3 – Vulnerable.
Lifecycle
Perennial
Height
6.6-32.8 ft
Leaf Lifecycle
Evergreen broadleaf
Propagation Methods
Seeds
Taxonomy
- Taxonomic Rank
- Species
- Author
- (A.Gray) T.G.Hartley & B.C.Stone
- Publication
- Taxon 38: 122 (1989)
Superior Taxa
- Kingdom
- Plantae
- Subkingdom
- Pteridobiotina
- Phylum
- Angiosperms
- Order
- Sapindales
- Family
- Rutaceae
- Genus
- Melicope
Synonyms
Pelea microcarpa Pelea auriculifolia Platydesma auriculifolia Pelea pickeringii Pelea sapotaefolia Pelea cookeana Pelea fauriei