Melicope peninsularis

Melicope peninsularis is a species of small tree in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to tropical north Queensland. It has trifoliate leaves and white flowers borne in short panicles in leaf axils.

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

Description

Melicope peninsularis is a tree that typically grows to a height of 10 mm (0.39 in) and has a slender trunk. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs and trifoliate on a petiole 40–120 mm (1.6–4.7 in) long. The leaflets are sessile, elliptical, 90–170 mm (3.5–6.7 in) long and 45–70 mm (1.8–2.8 in) wide. The flowers are arranged in panicles about 40 mm (1.6 in) long in leaf axils and are bisexual and the sepals about 2.5 mm (0.098 in) long and fused at the base, the petals white, 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) long and there are four stamens. Flowering has been recorded in February and the fruit consists of four follicles 8–12 mm (0.31–0.47 in) long and fused at the base.[2][3]

Taxonomy

Melicope peninsularis was first formally described in 2001 by Thomas Gordon Hartley in the journal Allertonia from specimens collected in the Lockerbie Scrub in 1992.[4][5]

Distribution and habitat

This melicope grows in rainforest and is only known from the tip of Cape York Peninsula and on Darnley Island in the Torres Strait.[2][3]

Conservation status

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

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References
  1. "Melicope peninsularis". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  2. Hartley, Thomas G.; Wilson, Annette J.G. (ed.) (2013). Flora of Australia (Volume 26). Canberra: Australian Biological Resources Study. pp. 102–103. Retrieved 27 July 2020.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  3. "Melicope peninsularis". Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants - Australian National Botanic Gardens. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  4. "Melicope peninsularis". APNI. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  5. Hartley, Thomas Gordon (February 2001). "On the Taxonomy and Biogeography of Euodia and Melicope (Rutaceae)". Allertonia. 8 (1): 217. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  6. "Species profile—Melicope peninsularis". Queensland Government Department of Environment and Science. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
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