Ehretia microphylla
Species of flowering plant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ehretia microphylla is commonly known as the Fukien tea tree or Philippine tea tree,[citation needed] is a species of flowering plant. The genus Ehretia is placed in the family Ehretiaceae.[2]
| Ehretia microphylla | |
|---|---|
| |
| Flower, fruit and leaf | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Boraginales |
| Family: | Ehretiaceae |
| Genus: | Ehretia |
| Species: | E. microphylla |
| Binomial name | |
| Ehretia microphylla | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
|
Homotypic
Heterotypic
| |
Description
Ehretia microphylla is a shrub growing to 4 m height, with long, straggling, slender branches. It is deciduous during the dry season. Its leaves are usually 10–50 mm long and 5–30 mm wide, and may vary in size, texture, colour and margin. It has small white flowers 8–10 mm in diameter with a 4–5 lobed corolla, and drupes 4–6 mm in diameter, ripening brownish orange.[3][4]
Distribution and habitat
The plant occurs widely in eastern and south-eastern Asia from India, Indochina, southern China, and Japan, through Malesia (including the Australian territory of Christmas Island) and New Guinea to mainland Australia (Cape York Peninsula) and the Solomon Islands. It has become an invasive weed in Hawaii where it is a popular ornamental plant and where the seeds are thought to be spread by fruit-eating birds.[4]
On Cape York Peninsula, the plant is recorded from semi-evergreen vine thickets. On Christmas Island, it favours dry sites on the terraces, and sometimes occurs in rainforest.[5]