Species information Abo ut Reso urces Hom e
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Micromelum minutum Click on images to enlarge
Family Rutaceae Scientific Name Micromelum minutum (G.Forst.) Wight & Arn. Wight, R. & Arnott, G.A.W. (1834) Prodromus Florae Peninsulae Indiae Orientalis : 448.
Common name Flowers and buds. Copyright CSIRO Lime Berry; Micromelum Stem Usually grows into a small tree not exceeding 30 cm dbh but also flowers and fruits as a shrub. Leaves
Oil dots visible with a lens. Leaflet blades about 4.5-15 x 1.5-6 cm, unequal-sided at the base. Domatia are Leaves and Flowers. Copyright CSIRO foveoles. Flowers Calyx lobes short, about 0.1-0.2 mm long. Petals about 2.5-3 mm long. Stamens ten, dimorphic, five long and five short. Disk small, confined to an area beneath the ovary. Fruit Fruits ovoid-ellipsoid, about 9 x 7 mm. Seeds about 6-7 x 4-5 mm. Testa smooth, translucent. Cotyledons Fruit. Copyright Stanley Breeden green, folded many times, oil dots numerous, readily visible with a lens. Seedlings Cotyledons glabrous, cordate to reniform, about 18-19 x 21-23 mm, apex rounded often notched. Oil dots visible to the naked eye. First leaf usually trifoliolate sometimes compound with 5 leaflets, oil dots conspicuous. At the tenth leaf stage: leaflet blades slightly hairy on the upper surface, unequal-sided at the base; oil dots numerous, visible to the naked eye; margin of the leaflets slightly sinuate; compound leaf petiole and rhachis clothed in short, prostrate hairs. Seed germination time 10 to 41 days. Distribution and Ecology Occurs in WA, NT, CYP, NEQ, CEQ and southwards to north-eastern New South Wales. Altitudinal range from Fruit, side views and cross section. Copyright W. T. Cooper sea level to 600 m. Grows as an understory tree in monsoon forest, dry rain forest, beach forest and well developed rain forest. Also occurs in Malesia, New Caledonia and Fiji. Natural History & Notes Food plant for the larval stages of the Orchard, Canopus and Capanens Butterflies. Common & Waterhouse (1981). This species may have medicinal properties. Leaf and stem material of this species was active against some tumors. Collins et al. (1990).
This species has been used medicinally in Malaysia and Indonesia. Cribb (1981). Leaves, flowers & fruit. Copyright CSIRO Shrub (woody or herbaceous, 1-6 m tall) X Tree X Synonyms Limonia minuta G.Forst., Prodr. : 33(1786), Type: Friendly Islands, Forster; holo: BM. Micromelum glabrescens Benth., Hookers Journal of Botany 2: 212(1843). Micromelum pubescens var. glabrescens (Benth.) Oliv., Journal of Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Botany 5, 2nd Suppl. : 40(1861). RFK Code 875 CC-BY Australian Tropical Herbarium unless otherwise indicated in the images.
Scale bar 10mm. Copyright CSIRO
Cotyledon stage, epigeal germination. Copyright CSIRO
10th leaf stage. Copyright CSIRO