Lycopodium volubile < Species index > Melicope ternata
This article was first published in the Tararua Tramper Volume 93, # 11, December 2021
December in the hills with Michele Dickson, Chris Horne
Melicope simplex, Poataniwha, tātaka,
Origin of the botanical names
‘Melicope’ is derived from the Greek words ‘meli’ meaning ‘honey’ and ‘kope’ meaning ‘cutting’, referring to the nectary with notched glands; ‘simplex’ comes from the Latin word ‘simplex’ meaning simple or single, referring to the single adult leaf. Poataniwha is one of the two New Zealand members of the Melicope genus, the other being its large-leaved relative wharangi, described in the November Tramper. Both are in the family Rutaceae which has only three members in Aotearoa. The family includes the species of citrus we enjoy.
Distribution and habitat
Poataniwha is endemic to Aotearoa. It grows on the margins of coastal and lowland forests from near North Cape southwards on Te Ika a Māui / North Island and on Te Waipounamu / South Island.
Growth habit
Poataniwha is a shrub or small tree up to 5 m or more tall with slender divaricating, smooth branchlets. The trunk is up to 10 cm in diameter with smooth brown bark. The leaves of juvenile plants are trifoliate with very slender petioles up to 1-2 cm long. The leaflets are 5-10 x 3-10 mm, with rough or almost smooth edges. The leaves of adult plants are single 5-10 mm, rhomboid to suborbicular and jointed to a flattened petiole, up to 5 mm long. The leaf arrangement is alternate or clustered on short branchlets. The leaves are gland-dotted, with edges that have shallow, rounded teeth, a feature described as crenulate. Crush a leaf to sample the aroma of the oil in those glands – it is like the aroma of crushed wharangi leaves. Poataniwha sometimes hybridises with wharangi *.
Reproduction
The flowers are small, about 5 mm, with slender stalks also about 5 mm long. Each flower has four greenish to white petals, creating a star-shape. Flowers are fascicled / clustered on the branchlets. Flowering is from September to November and fruits develop from December to April. The fruit is a 2-4-celled capsule, each cell with a seed. Seeds, ca. 3 mm long, black and glossy, are eaten and spread by birds.
Uses
We have not found any records of uses of Melicope simplex. Please tell us if you know of one.
Where can you find poataniwha?
Pockets of bush in Island Bay and Makara, Huntleigh Park, Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush, Trelissick Park, Upper Hutt bush remnants, Wairarapa bush remnants, Remutaka Range.
- Hybridism. In 1871, botanist John Buchanan named a plant Melicope mantellii. He wrote that the plant was ‘common in the neighbourhood of Wellington’, and was associated with M. ternata and M. simplex. In 1906, Cheeseman suggested a hybrid origin. Field observations have abundantly supported this view. Reference: Flora of New Zealand. Volume 1. H. H. Allan. 1961.
In The Hills 2021-11 < Index chronological > In The Hills 2022-02