Melochia umbellata

Melochia umbellata
Melochia umbellata
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae
Genus: Melochia
Species: M. umbellata
Binomial name
Melochia umbellata
(Houtt.) Stapf
Synonyms
  • Visenia indica C.C.Gimelin
  • Visenia umbellata Houtt.
  • Melochia indica (Gmel.) Kurz.[1]

Melochia umbellata is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family, Malvaceae. Its specific epithet comes from the Latin umbellatus (umbel-like), referring to the inflorescence.[2]

Contents

Description

Flowers
Fruits

Melochia umbellata is a shrub or small tree, growing to 2–15 m in height. It grows rapidly and is able to colonise disturbed land.[3] It has large, broadly ovate, leaves 90–300 mm long. The flowers are usually pale pink to red. The seeds are winged and wind-dispersed.[3]

Distribution and habitat

The plant is native to a region extending from India eastwards through Southeast Asia to north-western Australia and New Guinea. It occurs in secondary vegetation and forest clearings, on rocky slopes and along the edges of rivers and forests, often in seasonally dry soil.[2]

It has been introduced elsewhere and is cultivated widely to provide shade for young trees in timber and coffee plantations. It has become an invasive weed on the Island of Hawaiʻi where it was extensively planted in the Hilo area during a 1920s reforestation program.[3]

References

Notes

  1. ^ "Taxon: Melochia umbellata (Houtt.) Stapf". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2005-01-24. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?447725. Retrieved 2010-12-08. 
  2. ^ a b Flora of Australia Online.
  3. ^ a b c Starr et al. (2003).

Sources

External links

Media related to Melochia umbellata at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Melochia umbellata at Wikispecies

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