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Species
Morella faya (Ait.) Wilbur
IUCN
NCBI
EOL Text
Habitat and Ecology
Systems
- Terrestrial
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |
Source | http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/38398 |
Fire tree adapts to a wide range of habitats and soil types --from thin ash over lava to deep, well developed, silty-clay or loam soils. It occurs in recent volcanic cinder deposits and various types of native forest, and is most abundant on steep slopes, in seasonal montane forests, pastures, and roadsides.
Fire tree propagates by seed which are produced in small fruits in June. The fruits are readily eaten by birds which carry the seeds into new areas, enhancing its spread.
Red List Criteria
Year Assessed
- Needs updating
Assessor/s
Reviewer/s
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |
Source | http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/38398 |
United States
Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | NatureServe |
Source | http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Morella+faya |
Rounded Global Status Rank: GNR - Not Yet Ranked
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | NatureServe |
Source | http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Morella+faya |
Fire tree poses a serious threat to native plants on young volcanic sites, lowland forests and shrublands, where it forms dense, single- species stands. On the island of Hawaii, fire tree forms a dense canopy with an understory devoid of other plant life. The roots of fire tree manufacture nitrogen, which allows it to invade recent, nutrient-poor volcanic sites much sooner than native plants. Invasion by fire tree on these sites prevents typical plant community succession from occurring.
Myrica faya (Faya or Haya; syn. Morella faya (Ait.) Wilbur) is a species of Myrica, native to Macaronesia (the Azores, Madeira, and the Canary Islands), and possibly also southern Portugal.
It is an evergreen shrub or small tree 3–8 m tall, rarely up to 15 m tall. The leaves are usually a dark, glossy green, 4–11 cm long and 1–3 cm broad, with an entire margin and a bluntly pointed apex. It easily grows in any type of soil.
It is subdioecious, with the male and female flowers produced largely on separate plants, but often with a few flowers of the other sex present (Binggeli 1997). The male flowers have four stamens and are normally produced in clumps close to the branch. The female flowers, usually occurring in similar groups grow slightly farther from the branch tips. The fruit is an edible drupe 5–6 mm diameter, it is a reddish purple ripening dark purple to black. It is used as an astringent remedy for catarrh (Pérez 1999, Rushforth 1999).
In Macaronesian islands it occurs most abundantly at altitudes of 600–900 m. The Portuguese population may be native or naturalised following early importation from Madeira or the Azores (Rushforth 1999). It is an invasive species in Hawaii (Vitousek et al. 1987), where it displaces native trees such as Metrosideros polymorpha, with profound impacts on nitrogen cycling (Vitousek & Walker 1989).
References[edit]
- Binggeli, P. (1997). Myrica faya. University of Bangor.
- Pérez, M. Á. C. (1999). Native Flora of the Canary Islands. ISBN 978-84-241-3555-3.
- Rushforth, K. D. (1999). Trees of Britain and Europe. ISBN 978-0-00-220013-4.
- Vitousek, P.M., L.R. Whiteaker, D. Mueller-Dombois & P.A. Matson (1987). "Biological invasion by Myrica faya alters ecosystem development in Hawai'i". Science 238 (4828): 802–804. doi:10.1126/science.238.4828.802. PMID 17814707.
- Vitousek, P.M. & L.R. Walker Queit (1989). "Biological invasion by Myrica faya: Plant demography, nitrogen fixation, ecosystem effects". Ecological Monographs 59 (3): 247–265. doi:10.2307/1942601. JSTOR 1942601.
- Flora Europaea: Myrica faya
- University of Hawaii: Myrica faya native habitats
- University of Hawaii: Myrica faya as an invasive species in Hawaii
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Wikipedia |
Source | http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Myrica_faya&oldid=599571474 |
Morella faya (Faya; syn. Myrica faya) is a species in the bog-myrtle family Myricaceae. It is native to Macaronesia (Azores, Canary Islands, Madeira) and southern Portugal. It is abundant in the upper cloud forest zone of the Atlantic islands, where, together with Erica arborea (Brezo), it forms the fayal-brezal ecozone on exposed ridges above the laurisilva ecozone and below the pinar (Pinus canariensis) ecozone. Fayal-brezal habitats also commonly develop in the laurisilva ecozone where the original laurisilva forest has been destroyed by cutting or fire.
Faya is a large shrub or small tree growing to 8 m (rarely to 12 m) tall with evergreen foliage, The leaves are 4-11 cm long, with an entire to crenate margin. The flowers are inconspicuous catkins, the fruit a fleshy dark purple drupe 6-8 mm in diameter containing 1-5 seeds, with a rough waxy coating, produced in clusters.
The fruit is edible, though of limited palatability; the fruit wax can also be used for production of candles. Historically, the seeds have also been ground into flour as a famine food. The species is introduced, and invasive, on Hawaii.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Michаel Frаnkis, Michаel Frаnkis |
Source | No source database. |
Fire tree was originally brought to Hawaii by immigrants from Portugal in the late 1800s, most likely as an ornamental plant for its edible fruit, or for use as firewood. Portuguese laborers made wine from the fire tree fruit. In the early 1900s, it was sometimes planted in reforestation projects on the islands of Kauai, Oahu and Hawaii. By 1937, the invasive nature of this species had been recognized, and the first attempts to eradicate fire tree took place in 1944.