Alphitonia

Taxobox
name = "Alphitonia"


image_width = 250px
image_caption = Hawaii kauila tree ("Alphitonia ponderosa")
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Rosales
familia = Rhamnaceae
genus = "Alphitonia"
genus_authority = Endl.
subdivision_ranks = Genera
subdivision = See text.

"Alphitonia" is an arborescent genus of flowering plants with about 20 species, belonging to the Buckthorn family Rhamnaceae.

It occurs in tropical regions of South-East Asia, Oceania and Polynesia. These are large trees or shrubs.

The lanceolate coriaceous leaves are alternate, about 12 cm long. The margins are smooth. Venation is pinnate. They have white to rusty complex hairs on the under surface. The petiole is less than a quarter the length of a blade. Stipules are present.

The small flowers form terminal or axillary clusters of small creamy blossoms during spring. The flowers are bisexual. Hypanthium is present. The flowers show 5 sepals, 5 petals and 5 stamens. The ovary is inferior.

The fruits are ovoid, blackish non-fleshy drupes, with one seed per locule.

The name is derived from a Greek word meaning 'pearl barley'.

In Australia, "Alphitonia" species are sometimes used as food plants by the larvae of hepialid moths of the genus "Aenetus" including "A. mirabilis" (for which this is the exclusive food plant). These burrow horizontally into the trunk then vertically down.

Species

*"Alphitonia carolinensis"
*"Alphitonia erubescens"
*"Alphitonia excelsa"
*"Alphitonia ferruginea"
*"Alphitonia franguloides"
*"Alphitonia incana"
*"Alphitonia macrocarpa"
*"Alphitonia marquesensis"
*"Alphitonia moluccana"
*"Alphitonia neocalidonica"
*"Alphitonia obtusifolia"
*"Alphitonia petriei" : Pink Ash, White Ash, Sarsaparilla Tree (Australia)
*"Alphitonia ponderosa" : The Kauila. This is a tree with reddish-brown highly prized wood, endemic to Hawaii. It is an endangered species. Interestingly, another tree, "Colubrina oppositifolia", also endemic to Hawaii and endangered, shares the same Hawaiian name, "kauila".
*"Alphitonia philippinensis"
*"Alphitonia rubiginota"
*"Alphitonia whitei" : Red Ash, Sarsaparilla.
*"Alphitonia zizyphoides" (Solander) A.Gray : Toi (Pacific islands)