Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_melicope_rostrata
Pilo Kea Lau Liʻi
Melicope rostrata
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About Pilo Kea Lau Liʻi
An erect, few-branched, palm-like shrub with long narrow leaves concentrated toward ascending shoot tips. Numerous lateral veins run almost perpendicular to the midrib and join an arched marginal vein. Small flower clusters occur in and below leaf axils. Mature capsules form a cross-like outline, with each carpel ending in a long slender beak. This native shrub is a component of Hawaiian vegetation. Monitoring mature plants, new recruits and occupied cover can assess persistence and replacement. The reviewed accounts do not establish a measured Kauaʻi population trend or quantify an ecosystem effect.
Kauaʻi evidence
Generated media is not occurrence evidence. Proposed monitoring endpoints are not reported observations, measured effects or causal findings.
Names and classification
- Scientific name
- Melicope rostrata
- Hawaiian names
- pilo kea lau liʻi
- Other names
- Melicope rostrata · pilo kea lau liʻi
- Record type
- Species
Kauaʻi occurrence and status
- Kauaʻi occurrence
- Recorded on Kauaʻi
- Origin
- Endemic
- Conservation status
- Not yet assessed
- Evidence date
- 2026-10-07
- Evidence limits
- Island-level public occurrence only. The reviewed account does not specify flower or fruit color. Preserve long beaked capsule geometry without guessing ripe colors.
Habitat and ecology
- Habitats
- Not yet assessed
- Food and resource needs
- Not yet assessed
- Reproduction
- Not yet assessed
- Shelter
- Not yet assessed
- Growth form
- Shrub or subshrub; Erect palmoid shrubs 1-3 m tall; main stem 1-2 cm in diameter, few-branched, branches ascending, leafy toward apex, new growth and inflorescences hirtellous.
Threats and conservation
- Monitoring
- Occupied area and vegetation cover; Mature plants and new recruits; Reproductive plants and fruiting frequency. Proposed monitoring endpoints are not reported observations, measured effects or causal findings.
- Data gaps
- Current island extent and population trend · Measured local ecological effects
Process and seasonal context
- Seasonal timing
- Not yet assessed
- Seasonal description
- An erect, few-branched, palm-like shrub with long narrow leaves concentrated toward ascending shoot tips. Numerous lateral veins run almost perpendicular to the midrib and join an arched marginal vein. Small flower clusters occur in and below leaf axils. Mature capsules form a cross-like outline, with each carpel ending in a long slender beak. This native shrub is a component of Hawaiian vegetation. Monitoring mature plants, new recruits and occupied cover can assess persistence and replacement. The reviewed accounts do not establish a measured Kauaʻi population trend or quantify an ecosystem effect.