Rutaceae Juss.
Melicope littoralis (Endl.) T.G.Hartley
, legitimate, scientific
[Green, P.S. (1990), Notes relating to the floras of Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands, III. Kew Bulletin 45(2)]:
250
[comb. nov.]
basionym:
Euodia littoralis Endl.
legitimate
[Green, P.S. in Wilson, A.J.G. (ed.) (1994), Norfolk Island & Lord Howe Island. Flora of Australia 49]:
251, Fig. 48E
[secondary reference]
nomenclatural synonym:
Euodia littoralis Endl.
legitimate
common name:
Shade Tree
[n/a]
[Hartley, T.G. in Holttum, R.E. (2001), On the taxonomy and biogeography of Euodia and Melicope (Rutaceae). Allertonia 8(1)]:
134
[secondary reference]
nomenclatural synonym:
Euodia littoralis Endl.
legitimate
nomenclatural synonym:
Ampacus littoralis (Endl.) Kuntze
legitimate
[Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria (2007), Australian Plant Census]:
-
APC
[secondary reference]
nomenclatural synonym:
Evodia littoralis Endl.
orth. var.
nomenclatural synonym:
Euodia littoralis Endl.
legitimate
nomenclatural synonym:
Euodia litoralis F.Muell.
orth. var.
nomenclatural synonym:
Ampacus littoralis (Endl.) Kuntze
legitimate
nomenclatural synonym:
Ampacus litoralis Kuntze
orth. var.
-
APC Comment:
This species is considered to be endemic to Norfolk Is. There is however a specimen of it at BRI labelled in Allan Cunningham’s hand as “Brisbane River, Cunningham 23”. It is probably mislabeled. No other material of the species has been seen from Australia and according to P.S.Green (in litt.) there is a K sheet of Melicope littoralis which is labeled in Cunningham’s hand as “Norfolk Island, Cunningham 23”. F.M. Bailey, Queensland Fl. 1: 201 (1899), reported M. littoralis from Queensland (as Evodia littoralis) citing the above Brisbane R. collection and a Field Naturalists’ Excursion collection from Eumundi. The latter is M. vitiflora. There are some other reports of M. littoralis (as E. littoralis) from Australia (e.g. N.C.W.Beadle, Student’s Fl. NE New South Wales 4: 545 (1980), but they are probably erroneous and most likely based on misidentified M. vitiflora).
-
APC Dist.:
NI
[Hartley, T.G. in Wilson, A.J.G. (ed.) (2013), Melicope. Flora of Australia 26]:
103
[secondary reference]
-
Text:
"This species is considered to be endemic to Norfolk Is. There is, however, a specimen of it at BRI labelled in Allan Cunningham's hand as Brisbane River, Cunningham 23. It is probably mislabelled. No other material of the species has been seen from Australia and according to P.S.Green (in litt.) there is a K sheet of M. littoralis which is labelled in Cunningham's hand as Norfolk Island, Cunningham 23. Frederick M. Bailey, Queensland Fl. 1: 201 (1899), reported M. littoralis from Queensland (as Evodia littoralis), citing the above Brisbane R. collection and a Field Naturalist's Excursion collection from Eumundi. The latter is M. vitiflora. There are some other reports of M. littoralis (as E. littoralis) from Australia, (e.g. N.C.W.Beadle, Student's Fl. N E New South Wales 4: 545 (1980), but they are probably erroneous, most likely being based on misidentified M. vitiflora.
There is no doubt that Melicope vitiflora and M. littoralis are distinct from one another. The former differs mainly in having smaller, persistent (vs. deciduous) sepals, smaller, adaxially pubescent (vs. adaxially glabrous) petals, pilose, apically subulate (vs. glabrous, apically obtuse) staminal filaments, and smaller, non-beaked (vs. beaked) follicles."