Melicope degeneri
Melicope degeneri is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae known by the common names Kokee Stream melicope and Degener's pelea. It is endemic to Hawaii, where it is known only from the island of Kauai. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States. Like other Hawaiian Melicope, this species is known as alani.
Taxonomy
M. degeneri was described by B. C. Stone in 1966 as Pelea degeneri. Hartley and Stone in 1989 later re-classified Pelea ''degeneri into Melicope''.Description
M. degeneri grows as shrubs or trees up to, making it as one of the largest among Hawaiian Melicope species. Leaves are oppositely arranged, and shaped as elliptic-obovate blades with maximum dimensions of in length and wide. Flowers are usually in clusters of three with length up to, characterized as yellowish brown tomentose axillary cymes up to long. Fruits are cube-shaped capsules of 7–9 mm long and 7–12 mm wide, with one or two seeds per cell, measuring about 4.5 mm, characterized as glossy black when ripe, crustaceous, and ovoid-shaped, but sometimes angled from compression.It grows in wet mountain forests. The rediscovered population since 1993 grows in altitudes of, with growth restricted in forests dominated by Metrosideros.