Hawaiian Native Plant Propagation Database
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Melicope anisata |
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Description Melicope anisata is shrub or multi-trunked small tree ranging in height from 6 to 25 feet. The bark is smooth and gray-green with a red cambium layer. The twigs are smooth and light brown. The branches are pliant and droopy giving the plant a somewhat vine-like growth habit. The thin, leathery leaves give off a strong anise fragrance when crushed. The leaves are oval shaped and usually range in size from 4 to 8 inches long. and about half as wide. The leaves are bright green and the brownish or reddish leaf veins are conspicuous. Groups of 1 to 3 flowers form at the bases of the leaves. (Lamb 1981; Wagner 1990) |
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Habitat and Geographic Range Melicope anisata is the flower of Kaua'i and is native only to that island. It grows in moist to wet forests at elevations ranging from 1,200 to 4,000 feet. (Lamb 1981; Wagner 1990) |
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Propagation by Seeds The fruit of Melicope anisata is a squarish, yellow-green capsule about 1/2 inch long. The capsule has a strong anise fragrance. There are 4 compartments in the capsule and each will have 1 or 2 glossy black seeds about 1/8 inch long. Lilleeng-Rosenberger used a 6 day cold water soak as a seed pretreatment. These seeds took 6 months to germinate. In his germination studies, Obata found that untreated seeds of Melicope anisata had germination rates ranging from 30 to 75%. (Lilleeng-Rosenberger 1996; Obata 1967; Wagner 1990) |
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Propagation by Cuttings No information located to date. |
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Propagation by Division Not applicable. |
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Propagation by Air Layers No information located to date. |
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Propagation by Grafting No information located to date. |
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Propagation by Tissue Culture No information located to date. |
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References
Lamb, Samuel H. 1981. Native trees and shrubs of the Hawaiian Islands. Santa Fe, New Mexico: Sunstone Press. p. 58-59. Lilleeng-Rosenberger, Kerin. 1996. Plant propagation notebook. Unpublished materials: National Tropical Botanical Garden. Obata, John K. 1967. Seed germination in native Hawaiian plants. Newsletter of the Hawaiian Botanical Society 6 (3):13-20. Wagner, Warren L., Darrel R. Herbst, and S. H. Sohmer. 1990. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawai'i. 2 vols., Bishop Museum Special Publication 83. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press and Bishop Museum Press. p. 1183, 1705, |
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16 September 2001
Please send comments and suggestions to eherring@hawaii.edu