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Search for native plants by scientific name, common name or family. If you are not sure what you are looking for, try the Combination Search or our Recommended Species lists.

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Wikstroemia furcata

Wikstroemia furcata (Hillebr.) Rock

Forest False Ohelo

Thymelaeaceae (Mezereum family)

Synonym(s):

USDA Symbol: WIFU

USDA Native Status: HI (N)

"Shrubs or small trees up to 4.5 m tall; young branches rusty tomentose or sometimes with scattered hairs, rarely glabrous." (bibref: 1798).

"In the Hawaiian Islands, endemic to Kauai." (webref: 49).

 

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Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Shrub
Leaf Arrangement: Opposite
Leaf Complexity: Simple
Leaf Margin: Entire
Breeding System: Flowers Bisexual
Inflorescence: Axillary , Terminal
Fruit Type: Drupe
Size Notes: Up to about 4.5 meters tall.
Leaf: "Leaves dark green, lower surface lighter, chartaceous, broadly elliptic or narrowly ovate, (5-)7-12(-20) cm long, (1.8-)3-5(-9) cm wide, glabrous or with scattered hairs along the midrib on lower surface, apex acute or acuminate, sometimes obtuse, base broadly rounded, cuneate or bluntly tapering, petioles 4-10 mm long, pilose or glabrous." (bibref: 1798).
Flower: "Flowers perfect, greenish or yellowish green, usually pubescent, becoming glabrate, peduncles 3-7 mm long, slightly pilose or glabrous, rachis stout, elongating up to 50 mm or more long in fruit, densely hirsute, usually repeatedly forked, pedicels 1-3 mm long, tomentose; calyx tube 7.5-12 mm long, outer lobes 2-4 mm long, 1.2-3.5 mm wide, inner lobes 2-3.7 mm long, 1.2-3.5 mm wide." (bibref: 1798).
Fruit: "Fruit bright red or orangish red, ellipsoid, 10-15 mm long, 5.5-8 mm in diameter." (bibref: 1798).

Bloom Information

Bloom Color: Yellow , Green
Bloom Time: Jan , Feb , Mar , Apr , May , Jun , Jul , Aug , Sep , Oct , Nov , Dec

Distribution

USA: HI
Native Distribution: Endemic to the Hawaiian island of Kauai.
Native Habitat: "Scattered in hala forest and rather common in diverse mesic forest, 380-1,220 m, Kaua'i." (bibref: 1798). This taxon grows "in hala forest and diverse mesic forest 380–1220 m". (webref: 47).

Growing Conditions

Water Use: Medium
Light Requirement: Part Shade , Shade
Soil Moisture: Dry , Moist

Bibliography

Bibref 1798 - Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawaii, Revised Edition (1999) Wagner, W.L.; Herbst, D.R.; Sohmer, S.H.

Search More Titles in Bibliography

Web Reference

Webref 49 - Flora of the Hawaiian Islands (2020) Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Webref 47 - Hawaiian Ethnobotany Online Database (2020) Bishop Museum
Webref 31 - Native Plants Hawai’i (2018) University of Hawaii
Webref 28 - NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life (2018) NatureServe

Additional resources

USDA: Find Wikstroemia furcata in USDA Plants
FNA: Find Wikstroemia furcata in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Wikstroemia furcata

Metadata

Record Modified: 2020-11-02
Research By: Joseph A. Marcus

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