''Melicope bonwickii'', commonly known as the yellow evodia or yellow corkwood, is a species of tree in the family Rutaceae and is

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

to Java and the Philippines, and southward to New Guinea and north-eastern Australia. It has

trifoliate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

leaves and small pink flowers borne in panicles in leaf axils.

Description

''Melicope bonwickii'' grows up to tall. The leaves are trifoliate on a petiole long, the end leaflet egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base,

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

, long and wide. The flowers are

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

and are borne in panicles long, in leaf axils. 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 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s are more or less round, long and joined at the base. The petals are pink, rarely white, about and are hairy with a ridge on the back. There are four

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s. Flowering occurs from March to June and the fruit consists of up to four follicles long.

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1865 by

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

who gave it the name ''Euodia bonwickii'' and published the description in '' Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae'' from specimens collected by

John Dallachy John Dallachy (c. 1808 – 4 June 1871) was a curator of Melbourne Botanic Gardens and a plant collector. Dallachy was born in Elginshire, Scotland. He worked as a gardener for the Earl of Aberdeen and Kew Gardens. In 1847, he went to Ceylon to ma ...

. In 1994, Thomas Gordon Hartley changed the name to ''Melicope bonwickii'' in the journal '' Sandakania''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''bonwickii'') honours

James Bonwick James Bonwick (8 July 1817 – 6 February 1906) was an English-born Australian historical and educational writer. Early life Bonwick was born Lingfield, Surrey, England, the eldest son of James Bonwick, carpenter, and his second wife Mary Ann '' ...

Distribution and habitat

''Melicope bonwickii'' occurs naturally in Java and the Philippines, and southward to New Guinea and north-eastern Australia. It grows in rainforest from sea level to an altitude of . In Australia it is found from the

Atherton Tableland The Atherton Tableland is a fertile plateau which is part of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland, Australia. The principal river flowing across the plateau is the Barron River. It was dammed to form an irrigation reservoir named Lake Tina ...

to near Proserpine in northern Queensland.

Uses

This species is said to be used to treat dysentery in the Tanimbar Islands.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15395074 bonwickii Trees of Java Trees of Borneo Trees of Malesia Trees of New Guinea Trees of Australia Plants described in 1865 Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller