Melicope micrococca

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information:

Wikipedia links:       Angiosperms > Eudicots > Rosids  > Sapindales > Rutaceae > Melicope micrococca 

Other links:     

Plant  information

Common name:                Hairy-leaved Doughwood

• Also, White Euodia

Conservation status:  unknown

Etymology:   

Flowers:                  

• White flowers borne in panicles in leaf axils

• The flowers are borne in panicles 25–100 mm long, mostly in leaf axils

• The flowers are bisexual, the sepals 1–1.5 mm long and joined at the base

• The petals are white and 3.5–5 mm long, and there are four stamens

• Flowering occurs from November to February 

Fruit:                         

• Up to four follicles 4–5 mm long and joined at the base

Leaves:         

• It has trifoliate leaves 

• Opposite pairs and on a petiole 10–95 mm

• The leaflets are egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, 25–130 mm long and 12–50 mm wide

• The side leaflets sessile but the end leaflet is on a petiolule 3–13 mm long

• The leaflets have visible oil dots and the underside is a paler shade of green

Stem & branches: 

• Typically grows to a height of 24–27 m with a dbh of 60 cm 

• It has a relatively smooth, pale brown trunk with some corky irregularities

• Flanged at the base of larger specimens

Roots:         

Habit:        

• A shrub or tree 

Habitat:   

• Usually grows in rainforest and is found from near sea level to an altitude of 1,050 m 

Distribution:                  

• Endemic to eastern Australia

• Its natural range is from the Seven Mile Beach, NSW (34° S) to Maryborough, Queensland (25° S) 

Additional notes:     

• Taxonomy

  • Hairy-leaved doughwood was first described in 1859 by Ferdinand von Mueller 

  • He gave it the name Euodia micrococca and published the description in his book, Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae 

  • His sample was from a specimen collected near Cabramatta by William Woolls

  • In 1990, Thomas Gordon Hartley changed the name to Melicope micrococca in the journal Telopea

• Ecology

  • The fruit is eaten by a variety of birds, including the brown cuckoo dove, crimson rosella, green catbird and Lewin's honeyeater

  • It is a target species for many insects, including butterflies in the family Papilionidae

Sources of information:

• (2023)