Barry Conn (NSW) & Kipiro Damas (LAE).
Guide to trees of Papua New Guinea
Copyright held by the authors, National Herbarium of New South Wales, and Papua New Guinea National Herbarium

Melicope elleryana (F.Muell.) T.G.Hartley

Telopea Vol. 4: 34 (1990)

Other Literature: J.R. Wheeler, Flora of the Kimberley Region 670 (1992)

Family: Rutaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Occasional timber species or Minor hardwood Tradename: Pink Evodia, Euodia Light

Field Characters: Small sub-canopy tree (up to c. 20 m high) or Large canopy tree (up to 35 m high); Bole cylindrical (up to c. 50 cm diam.); straight (bole up to 25 m long); buttresses buttresses present (buttresses not usually massive, up to 2 m high); spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark red (brownish pale), white (sometimes patches), brownish grey, or pale brown, slightly rough or usually smooth, pustular (slightly (along cracks), fissured, cracked (slightly (sparsely grooved), or slightly peeling, lenticels elongated vertically; Subrhytidome (under-bark) orange, brown, or yellow; less than 25 mm thick, (4.0-) 10.0-15.0; bark blaze consisting of one layer; strongly aromatic or faintly to non-aromatic; unpleasant (slightly pungent, sour to musty) or pleasant (sweetly aromatic); outer blaze grey, yellow (pale (cream-coloured), pale pink, or pale brown, markings absent or with stripes (hard brown stripes), granular with splinters or corky; inner blaze pale pink or pale brown, markings absent or with stripes (hard brown stripes), granular with splinters or corky; bark exudate (sap) present, colourless, not readily flowing (spotty), slightly colour changing on exposure to air or colour not changing on exposure to air, to golden-coloured, sticky; terminal buds not enclosed by leaves.

Indumentum: Complex hairs absent; stinging hairs absent; mature twig indumentum (hairs) absent.

Leaves: Leaves spaced along branches (aromatic when crushed), opposite (in pairs, opposite one another on the branchlet), compound (a leaf made up from two or more leaflets); petiole present, not winged, attached to base of leaf blade, not swollen; leaves with three leaflets (trifoliate); petiolule swollen (slightly (at base) or not swollen; leaves with a terminal leaflet (the number of leaflets odd - imparipinnate), broadest at or near middle, 7.0-15.0 (-20.0) cm, (5.0-) 9.0 cm, leaflets arranged from one point (3-foliolate), symmetric, terminal developing leaflet buds straight; venation pinnate, secondary veins open, prominent, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface green or pale green, upper surface dark green, indumentum (hairs) absent; present (leaf surface glandular punctate); domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence on the trunk or branches (ramiflorous) or sub axillary, flowers on a branched axis, cones absent; flowers bisexual, stalked, flowers with many planes of symmetry, 5.0-8.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.) (c. 5 mm diam.); perianth present, with distinct sepals and petals whorls, inner perianth pink or red; 4, some or partly joined (joined at base); stamens 4, present, free of each other, free of the perianth; ovary superior, carpels partially joined, by base, locules 4; styles solitary (arising from near middle of carpels), 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on branched axis, fruit 7.0-8.0 mm long, 10.0-12.0 mm diam., brownish black, grey, or brown, not spiny, non-fleshy, simple or aggregate (carpels joined at base), indehiscent (fruit splits incompletely into dehiscent parts - mericarps), schizocarp; seeds 4 (glossy, black, 1 per carpel), about 10 mm long (7-8 mm long), not winged, narrow (longer than wide), seed 1-10 mm diam. (c. 3 mm diam.).

Distribution: West Sepik, East Sepik, Madang, Morobe, Western Highlands, Eastern Highlands, Southern Highlands, Western, Gulf, Central, Northern, Milne Bay, Papuan Islands, New Britain, New Ireland, Manus & Bougainville.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

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Notes: Notes Previously known as Euodia elleryana F.Muell. (published in Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae, volume 5, pp. 4 & 5, 1865).