''Melicytus novae-zelandiae'', commonly known as coastal mahoe, is a

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the

violet Violet may refer to: Common meanings * Violet (color), a spectral color with wavelengths shorter than blue * One of a list of plants known as violet, particularly: ** ''Viola'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants Places United States * Viol ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

. It grows along the coast of New Zealand from the

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runawa ...

northwards, especially on offshore islands. Its range is largely restricted to New Zealand, though one subspecies is endemic to Australia's

Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Island (; formerly Lord Howe's Island) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies directly east of mainland P ...

. 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 ...

refers to its principal area of occurrence. Subspecies include: *''Melicytus novae-zelandiae'' subsp. ''novae-zelandiae'' (A.Cunn.) P.S.Green (1970) — New Zealand * ''Melicytus novae-zelandiae'' subsp. ''centurionis'' P.S.Green (1970) — Lord Howe Island

Description

It is a small, multistemmed

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

growing up to 2 m in height. It produces small, yellowish green, bell-shaped flowers in August and September, and purple-spotted, white-shaded berries from late August to October.

References

novae-zelandiae Flora of New Zealand Plants described in 1838 Dioecious plants {{Violaceae-stub