Rusts on Rutaceae
The Rutaceae is best known for the citrus fruit produced by the genus Citrus. However, it is represented in Hawai‘i by a number of endemic species in three genera, Melicope (=Pelea), Platydesma, and Zanthoxylum, which occur as small to medium sized trees or shrubs scattered in upper elevation native forests. Platydesma, with four species is entirely endemic to Hawai‘i. Except for two species in the Marquesas Islands, Melicope is considered endemic to Hawai‘i, where 47 species occur. On the other hand, only a few of the more than 200 species of Zanthoxylum distributed throughout the tropics are endemic to Hawai‘i. Two rusts have been found on the Rutaceae in Hawai‘i, one on Melicope spp., and the other on Z. dipetalum as described on the following pages:
Puccinia rutainsulara on Melicope anisata (mokihana)