Melicope affinis

Melicope affinis is a species of shrub or tree in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to Queensland. It has trifoliate leaves and small greenish white flowers borne in panicles in leaf axils.

Melicope affinis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Genus: Melicope
Species:
M. affinis
Binomial name
Melicope affinis

Description

Melicope affinis is a tree that typically grows to a height of 20 mm (0.79 in) but also forms flowers and fruit as a shrub. The leaves are trifoliate and arranged in opposite pairs on a petiole 20–75 mm (0.79–2.95 in) long, the leaflets usually elliptical, 60–100 mm (2.4–3.9 in) long and 25–40 mm (0.98–1.57 in) wide, the end leaflet on a petiolule 2–10 mm (0.079–0.394 in) long. The flowers are bisexual and arranged in panicles 30–60 mm (1.2–2.4 in) or long in leaf axils. The sepals are egg-shaped to round, about 0.8 mm (0.031 in) long and fused at the base. The petals are greenish white, about 2 mm (0.079 in) long and glabrous and there are four stamens. Flowering has been observed in March and the fruit consists of up to four follicles 3.5–4 mm (0.14–0.16 in) long.[2][3]

Taxonomy

Melicope affinis was first formally described in 2001 by Thomas Gordon Hartley in the journal Allertonia from specimens collected by Bruce Gray in 1979.[4][5]

Distribution and habitat

This melicope is found between Cooktown and Cairns in far north Queensland where it grows in rather dry rainforest at altitudes between 560 and 900 m (1,840 and 2,950 ft).[2][3]

Conservation status

This species is classified as of "least concern" under the Queensland Government Nature Conservation Act 1992.[6]

References
  1. "Melicope affinis". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  2. Hartley, Thomas G.; Wilson, Annette J.G. (ed.) (2013). Flora of Australia (Volume 26). Canberra: Australian Biological Resources Study. p. 100. Retrieved 24 July 2020.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  3. "Melicope affinis". Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants - Australian National Botanic Gardens. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  4. "Melicope affinis". APNI. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  5. Hartley, Thomas Gordon (February 2001). "On the Taxonomy and Biogeography of Euodia and Melicope (Rutaceae)". Allertonia. 8 (1): 195. JSTOR 23189298.
  6. "Species profile—Melicope affinis". Queensland Government Department of Environment and Science. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
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