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Melicytus lanceolatus
Also called Mountain Mahoe, Māhoe Wao, Narrow Leaved Mahoe
Melicytus lanceolatus, commonly called narrow-leaved māhoe or māhoe-wao, is a small tree in the family Violaceae that is endemic to New Zealand.
This species prefers moist, cool areas with high rainfall from lowland up to montane forests. It is tolerant of a range of soils except dry soils. Since it prefers cool areas, M. lanceolatus has a cold sensitivity of –2.0 °C, but its leaves were found to endure frosts down to –8.3 °C. Melicytus lanceolatus is an early coloniser after a disturbance. It can be commonly seen growing along forest margins, in regenerating forest, or as a slightly shaded understory plant. Since it can be an understory plant, it can tolerate shade. However, it does require enough light to germinate, as seeds were found to have a very low germination rate (8%) in the dark. Specifically, M. lanceolatus can be found in associations with red beech, silver beech, kāmahi, and tōtara forests. It can also occur in shrublands, river terraces, inland valleys or frosty basins.
Porcupine Shrub · Melicytus angustifolius · Thick Leaved Porcupine Plant · Tree Violet · Melicytus flexuosus · Melicytus latifolius · Large Leaved Māhoe · Melicytus novae-zelandiae subsp. centurionis · Coastal Mahoe · Cook Strait Māhoe · Mahoe · Whitey Wood
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Melicytus lanceolatus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
