Alphitonia
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 Hawaii kauilatree (Alphitonia ponderosa)
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Alphitonia is an arborescent genus of flowering plants with about 20 species, belonging to the Buckthorn family Rhamnaceae.
It occurs in tropical regions of Asia, such as Malaysia, Hawaii, Pacific Islands and tropical Australia. These are large trees or shrubs.
The lanceolate coriaceous leaves are alternate, about 12 cm long. The margins are smooth. Venation is pinnate (= featherlike). They have white to rusty complex hairs on the under surface. The petiole (= stalk of the blade) 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, i.e. the ringlike structure of a flower which bears the sepals, stamens and calyx. 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.
[edit] Species
- Alphitonia excelsa : Red Ash, Red Almond, Leatherjacket, White Leaf, White Myrtle, Sarsaparilla Tree, Coopers Wood. This is an Australian ornamental tree, but equally a fodder plant for sheep and cattle. It grows in the eucalyptus forests of Queensland and the Northern Territory. When young shoots are bruised, they give off a typical odour of sarsaparilla. This tree can grow to a height of 21 m.
- Alphitonia petriei : Pink Ash, White Ash, Sarsaparilla Tree (Australia)
- Alphitonia ponderosa : Hawaii Kauila Tree. This is a tree with reddish-brown highly prized wood, endemic on Hawaii.
- Alphitonia whitei : Red Ash, Sarsaparilla.
- Alphitonia zizyphoides : Toi (Pacific islands)
- Alphitonia carolinensis, Alphitonia ferruginea, Alphitonia franguloides, Alphitonia incana, Alphitonia macrocarpa, Alphitonia marquesensis, Alphitonia moluccana, Alphitonia neocalidonica, Alphitonia obtusifolia, Alphitonia philippinensis, Alphitonia rubiginota.
