Family:
Meliaceae Juss.

Melia L.

This genus is accepted, and its native range is NE. & E. Tropical Africa, Tropical Asia to N. & E. Australia.

[FSOM]

M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS

Morphology General Habit
Trees up to 20 m high; indumentum of simple, glandular and stellate hairs
Morphology Leaves
Leaves 2–3 times pinnate; leaflets subentire to deeply serrate or crenate
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers bisexual or male on the same individual
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx lobed almost to the base, lobes 5(–6), lanceolate, imbricate
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla 5(–6)-merous, petals free, imbricate
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Staminal tube narrowly cylindrical; anthers 10, shortly apiculate; appendages alternating with or opposite the anthers
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Disc
Disk annular, free, surrounding the base of the ovary
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary
Ovary 4–8-celled; cells with 2 superposed ovules; style with 4–8 erect stigmatic lobes
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit a drupe with 3–8 cells; cells usually 1-seeded.
Distribution
Three species, two native in Africa and one in southern Asia and Australia.

[FTEA]

Meliaceae, Styles & F. White (Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford). Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1991

Morphology General Habit
Trees
Morphology General Indumentum
Indumentum of simple, glandular and stellate hairs
Morphology Leaves
Leaves 2–3-pinnate; leaflets subentire to deeply serrate or crenate
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers hermaphrodite and ♂ on the same individual (plant andromonoecious)
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx lobed almost to the base; lobes 5(–6), lanceolate, imbricate
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Petals 5(–6), free, imbricate
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Staminal tube narrowly cylindric, slightly expanded at the mouth; anthers 10, shortly apiculate; appendages alternating with or opposite to the anthers
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Disc
Disk annular, free, surrounding the base of the ovary
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil
Ovary 4–8-locular; locules with 2 superposed ovules; style-head scarcely wider than the style, with 4–8 erect stigmatic lobes
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit 3–8-locular drupe; locules usually 1-seeded
Distribution
3 species, 2 of which are indigenous to Africa; the third, M. azedarach as a wild plant extends from India to Australia — it is widely planted, and locally naturalized, in the tropics and subtropics.

[FZ]

Meliaceae, F. White & B. T. Styles. Flora Zambesiaca 2:1. 1963

Morphology General Habit
Trees or shrubs.
Morphology General Indumentum
Indumentum of simple, glandular, and stellate hairs.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves 2- or 3-pinnate; leaflets usually rather deeply crenate or serrate.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers bisexual.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx lobed almost to the base, lobes 5 (6), lanceolate, imbricate.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Petals 5 (6), free, much longer than the calyx in bud, imbricate (sometimes only distinctly so at the apex).
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Staminal tube cylindric; anthers 10–12, shortly apiculate, alternating with a pair of narrowly deltate appendages.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Disc
Disk annular, crenulate, free from the ovary and staminal tube.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil
Ovary 4–8-locular, each loculus with 2 superposed ovules (the lower pendulous, the upper directed upwards); style elongate, shorter than the staminal tube; style-head scarcely wider than the style, coroniform, with 4–8 erect stigmatic lobes.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit drupaceous with 4–8 loosely united pyrenes, each with 1–2 seeds.

Native to:

Assam, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, East Himalaya, Ethiopia, Hainan, India, Jawa, Kenya, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Philippines, Queensland, Solomon Is., Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sumatera, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Vietnam, West Himalaya, Western Australia

Introduced into:

Afghanistan, Alabama, Algeria, Angola, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Arizona, Arkansas, Ascension, Bahamas, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Burkina, California, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, Cape Verde, Caroline Is., Cayman Is., Central African Repu, Chad, Christmas I., Comoros, Cook Is., Cuba, Dominican Republic, East Aegean Is., Easter Is., El Salvador, Fiji, Florida, France, Free State, Galápagos, Gambia, Georgia, Guatemala, Gulf of Guinea Is., Haiti, Hawaii, Honduras, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Japan, Kazan-retto, Korea, Kriti, KwaZulu-Natal, Lebanon-Syria, Leeward Is., Lesotho, Libya, Louisiana, Malawi, Mali, Marianas, Marquesas, Marshall Is., Mauritius, Mexico Central, Mexico Southwest, Mississippi, Missouri, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nansei-shoto, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Mexico, Norfolk Is., North Carolina, Northern Provinces, Ogasawara-shoto, Oklahoma, Pakistan, Palestine, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Rodrigues, Rwanda, Réunion, Seychelles, Sicilia, Society Is., South Australia, South Carolina, Southwest Caribbean, Spain, St.Helena, Sudan, Swaziland, Tennessee, Texas, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad-Tobago, Tuamotu, Tubuai Is., Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Turks-Caicos Is., Uganda, Uruguay, Utah, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Venezuelan Antilles, Victoria, Virginia, Windward Is., Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe

Melia L. appears in other Kew resources:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status Has image?
s.coll. [Cat. no. s.n.] K001132325 Yes

First published in Sp. Pl.: 384 (1753)

Accepted by

  • Govaerts, R., Nic Lughadha, E., Black, N., Turner, R. & Paton, A. (2021). The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-00997-6. Scientific Data 8: 215.

Literature

Flora of West Tropical Africa

  • Harms in E. & P. Pflanzenfam. 19B, 1: 99 (1940).
  • —F.T.A. 1: 332

Flora Zambesiaca

  • Gen. Pl. ed. 5: 182 (1754).
  • Sp. Pl. 1: 384 (1753)

Flora of Somalia

  • Flora Somalia, Vol 2, (1999) Author: by A. S. Hassan & M. Cheek [updated by M. Thulin 2008]

Flora of Tropical East Africa

  • L., Gen. Pl., ed. 5: 182 (1754)
  • Pennington & Styles in Blumea 22: 463 (1975)
  • Sp. Pl.: 384 (1753)

  • Flora Zambesiaca

    Flora Zambesiaca
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of Somalia

    Flora of Somalia
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    Flora of Tropical East Africa
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    Copyright applied to individual images