Melicope littoralis , commonly known as shade tree,[1] is a species of shrub or small tree in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to Norfolk Island. It has trifoliate leaves and small white flowers borne in leaf axils in panicles of a few to many flowers.
Melicope littoralis is a shrub or tree that typically grows to a height of . It has mostly trifoliate leaves arranged in opposite pairs and long on a petiole long, the leaflets elliptical to egg-shaped, long and wide. The flowers are arranged in groups of a few to many, in panicles long and wide on a peduncle long. The flowers are borne on pedicels long, the sepals egg-shaped, long and joined at the base, the petals white, long and there are four stamens. The fruit consists of up to four follicles up to long and fused at the base, the seeds about long.[2]
The shade tree was first formally described in 1833 by Stephan Endlicher who gave it the name Euodia littoralis and published the description in his book Prodromus Florae Norfolkicae.[3] [4] In 2001, Thomas Gordon Hartley changed the name to Melicope littoralis in the journal Allertonia.[5]
This species is endemic to Norfolk Island where it grows in coastal and inland forest. It is most often seen in the Norfolk Island National Park.[2] [6]
Melicope littoralis is listed as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.[7]