''Melicytus ramiflorus'' (māhoe or whiteywood) is a small tree of the family

Violaceae Violaceae is a family of flowering plants established in 1802, consisting of about 1000 species in about 25 genera. It takes its name from the genus ''Viola'', the violets and pansies. Older classifications such as the Cronquist system placed t ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It grows up to 10 metres high with a trunk up to 60 cm in diameter, it has smooth, whitish bark and brittle twigs. The dark-green "alternate" leaves are 5–15 cm long and 3–5 cm wide and their edges are finely serrated (although this feature is less pronounced in younger plants).The plants are

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 ...

and the small flowers are yellowish in colouration, between 3 and 4 mm in diameter and occur in fascicles, growing straight out from naked twigs- these flowers have a strong, pleasant fragrance. The berries are a striking violet colour when ripe and are more or less

spherical A sphere () is a geometrical object that is a three-dimensional analogue to a two-dimensional circle. A sphere is the set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three-dimensional space.. That given point is the ce ...

with a diameter of between 3 and 4 mm. Flowering occurs in late spring ( southern hemisphere )- and on into summer while the berries appear later on in summer and also in autumn. The berries of ''M. ramiflorus'' are eaten by a number of native birds, including

kererū The kererū (''Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae'') or New Zealand pigeon is a species of pigeon native to New Zealand. Johann Friedrich Gmelin described the bird in 1789 as a large, conspicuous pigeon up to in length and in weight, with a white br ...

and tui, while

geckos Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from . Geckos ar ...

of the genus

Naultinus ''Naultinus'' is a genus of geckos that are endemic to New Zealand. On account of their striking colouration, species in the genus ''Naultinus'' are commonly known as green geckos. There are nine described species in the genus. Species in the ...

have also been observed to supplement their primarily insectivorous diet with consumption of these berries. It is also a host species for the caterpillars of the New Zealand endemic moth '' Austramathes purpurea''. It is ubiquitous throughout lower altitude New Zealand

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s and is frequently seen in areas of regenerating forest.

Subspecies

In former analyses, four subspecies of ''M. ramiflorus'' were recognised: subsp. ''ramiflorus'' of New Zealand, subsp. ''oblongifolius'' of

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together with ...

, subsp. ''fastigiata'' of

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

and subsp. ''samoensis'' of

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

and

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

. More recent studies, especially that by Art Whistler, have indicated that all these subspecies should be regarded as species in their own right.

References

*L. Cockyane and E. Phillips Turner, 1943, ''The Trees of New Zealand''. Government Printer. *John Dawson and Rob Lucas, 2000, ''Nature Guide to the New Zealand Forest''. Godwit. *Donald R. Drake, Walter A. Whistler, Timothy J. Motley, and Clyde T. Imada, 1996, Rain Forest Vegetation of 'Eua Island, Kingdom of Tonga. ''New Zealand Journal of Botany'', 1996, Vol. 34: 65–77. *A.L. Poole and N.M. Adams, 1963, ''Trees and Shrubs of New Zealand''. Government Printer.

External links

* ''New Zealand Plant Conservation Network'', URL
Melicytus ramiflorus
retrieved 3 October 2010. {{Taxonbar, from=Q311756 ramiflorus Trees of New Zealand Dioecious plants