Melochia umbellata is a shrub or small tree, growing to 2–15 m in height. It grows rapidly and is able to colonise disturbed land.[3] It has large, broadly ovate, leaves 90–300 mm long. The flowers are usually pale pink to red. The seeds are winged and wind-dispersed.[3]
Distribution and habitat
The plant is native to a region extending from India eastwards through Southeast Asia to north-western Australia and New Guinea. It occurs in secondary vegetation and forest clearings, on rocky slopes and along the edges of rivers and forests, often in seasonally dry soil.[2]
It has been introduced elsewhere and is cultivated widely to provide shade for young trees in timber and coffeeplantations. Melochia is relished by ruminants when offered as a cut-and-carry feed.[4] It has become an invasiveweed on the Island of Hawaiʻi where it was extensively planted in the Hilo area during a 1920s reforestation program.[3]
