Melicope pallida is a species of tree

Tree

A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...

 in the Rutaceae

Rutaceae

Rutaceae, commonly known as the rue or citrus family, is a family of flowering plants, usually placed in the order Sapindales.Species of the family generally have flowers that divide into four or five parts, usually with strong scents...

 family. It is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands

Hawaiian Islands

The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...

. It is threatened by habitat loss. It is a federally listed endangered species

Endangered species

An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...

 of the United States. Like other Hawaiian Melicope, this species is known as alani.

This tree grows up to ten meters in height. The leaves have thin oval blades folded along the midline and measuring up to 21 centimeters long by 8 wide. The flowers have yellow-green petals and are borne in cymes in the leaf axils.

Today this plant is limited to the island of Kauai

Kauai

Kauai or Kauai, known as Tauai in the ancient Kaua'i dialect, is geologically the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands. With an area of , it is the fourth largest of the main islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, and the 21st largest island in the United States. Known also as the "Garden Isle",...

, having been extirpated

Local extinction

Local extinction, also known as extirpation, is the condition of a species which ceases to exist in the chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere...

 from Oahu

Oahu

Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...

. There are between 200 and 300 individuals remaining. They grow on exposed ridges and cliffs above valleys and near waterfall

Waterfall

A waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...

s. Other plants in the habitat include Alphitonia ponderosa

Alphitonia ponderosa

Alphitonia ponderosa is a species of flowering tree in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae, that is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. It is locally known as kauila, as is the related Colubrina oppositifolia.-Description:A...

(kauila), Alyxia stellata

Alyxia stellata

Alyxia stellata is a plant in family Apocynaceae. Its white bark gives away a certain distinctive smell and bitter taste. This plant grows wild in the forests and in the fields of mountainous area...

(maile), Antidesma platyphyllum

Antidesma platyphyllum

Antidesma platyphyllum is a species of flowering tree in the leafflower family, Phyllanthaceae, that is endemic to Hawaii. Common names include Hame, Haa, Mehame, Hamehame, Mehamehame, and Haāmaile. It inhabits coastal mesic forests, mixed mesic forests, wet forests, and bogs at elevations of on...

(hame), Dianella sandwicensis (uki uki), Coprosma waimeae (olena), Dicranopteris linearis

Dicranopteris linearis

Dicranopteris linearis is a common species of fern known by many common names, including Old World forked fern and uluhe . It is one of the most widely distributed ferns of the wet Old World tropics and adjacent regions, including Polynesia and the Pacific...

(uluhe), Dodonaea viscosa

Dodonaea viscosa

Dodonaea viscosa is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae, that has a cosmopolitan distribution in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate regions of Africa, the Americas, southern Asia and Australasia.-Description:...

(aalii), Doodia kunthiana (okupukupu), Kadua affinis (manono), Leptecophylla tameiameiae (pukiawe), Melicope anisata (mokihana), and Melicope barbigera (alani).

External links

• USDA Plants Profile
• World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1998. Melicope pallida. 2010 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 30 May 2011.