Melicytus orarius, or Cook Strait Mahoē, is a species of flowering plant in the violet family Violaceae.[1]
A hermaphroditic, small Melicytus bush with obovate leaves with a retuse apex, and purple-margined petals. It can grow prostrate in exposed conditions.
It was described in 2017, with the type specimen coming from Wellington Harbor.[2]
orarius is the adjectival form of the Latin ōra, meaning shore.
New Zealand, near the Cook Strait, on the North and South Island islands, and nearby islets.
Exposed headlands and rocks near the sea. It may require extensive guano deposits from seabirds in order to thrive, and populations that are in compromised habitats such as farmed islands like Kapiti or in suburban Wellington (such as in the Oku Street Reserve) are now seen as relicts, while other populations on islets in the Cook Strait, especially in the Marlborough Sound, are still viable.