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Alyxia stellata; photograph author not stated, no rights reserved CC0author not stated, no rights reserved · observed growing wild · 2026-04-03

Alyxia stellata (J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.) Roem. & Schult.

Maile; Climbing Chain Fruit

Apocynaceae · Solomon Is., Queensland +16

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Alyxia stellata, photograph (c) Brynn Fricke, some rights reserved (CC BY)Alyxia stellata, photograph (c) Brynn Fricke, some rights reserved (CC BY)Alyxia stellata, photograph (c) Brynn Fricke, some rights reserved (CC BY)Alyxia stellata, photograph (c) Brynn Fricke, some rights reserved (CC BY)Alyxia stellata, photograph (c) Brynn Fricke, some rights reserved (CC BY)Alyxia stellata, photograph (c) Neal Kelso, some rights reserved (CC BY) 57 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Coldest month, mean nightly low
19.6°C
Jul and Aug at the habitat, not a floor; extremes not used (sea cell) CHELSA
Warmest month, mean daily high
27°C
Jan, Feb, Mar and Dec at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
1,708mm
12 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
24–43DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Wet summers: the rain comes December to May, read as a summer growing season. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Summary

Alyxia stellata, known as maile in Hawaiian, is a species of flowering plant in the dogbane family, Apocynaceae, that is native to the tropical Pacific from Queensland, Australia, to Hawaii, USA. It grows as either a twining liana, scandent shrub, or small erect shrub, and is one of the few vines that are endemic to the islands. The leaves are usually ternate, sometimes opposite, and can show both types on the same stem. Flowers are quite inconspicuous and have a sweet and light fragrance of honey. More on Wikipedia ›

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Alyxia stellata", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the median year's rain (1,233 mm of 1,734 mm) falls in December to May, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 25.1 °C against a yearly mean of 23.4 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: June to November.

Rain

1,734 mm in the median year at the habitat, 1,233 mm of it December to May. Wettest month February at 268 mm, driest months (2 at 72 mm). Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 1,002 mm to 3,807 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 1,708 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 1,734 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, northern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 24 to 43 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 22, the highest 90th-percentile month 45).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 19.6 °C in July and August (across the grid cells of the range 15.0 °C to 24.6 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 27.2 °C in February (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: none read. The nearest figure is 19.6 °C, the coldest month's mean nightly low, July and August, in the median year (CHELSA); a month's mean of its nightly lows is warmer than the nights a floor is read from. The daily extremes were read at a weather cell that is mostly sea and are not used.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 59 to 64% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. No cold floor is read without a daily extremes series; the coldest month's mean nightly low named in its sentence is not one. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, northern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Alyxia stellata through the yearWarmest months January, February, March and December, mean daily high 27 °C; coldest months July and August, mean nightly low 19.6 °C; 1,734 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA. Habitat months, northern hemisphere.10°15°20°25°30°°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400500600mm rainDLI 24–43RH 59–64%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 72 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C27 / 26–2827 / 26–2827 / 26–2825 / 25–2824 / 23–2722 / 21–2721 / 20–2621 / 20–2623 / 22–2624 / 23–2626 / 24–2727 / 25–28
Night °C25 / 24–2625 / 24–2625 / 23–2624 / 21–2622 / 19–2521 / 16–2520 / 15–2520 / 16–2421 / 18–2522 / 20–2523 / 22–2524 / 23–25
Rain mm245 / 136–539268 / 176–451219 / 122–424184 / 85–334141 / 75–27795 / 51–20374 / 33–19972 / 32–17572 / 22–21274 / 38–280114 / 75–319176 / 125–453
DLI42 / 37–4339 / 36–4037 / 35–3831 / 30–3426 / 25–3024 / 22–2925 / 23–3031 / 28–3438 / 34–3941 / 38–4343 / 39–4543 / 37–45
RH %64 / 62–7064 / 62–7064 / 61–6962 / 60–6860 / 59–6659 / 58–6659 / 57–6560 / 58–6561 / 59–6562 / 60–6762 / 60–6863 / 61–69

Records on both sides of the equator: the 38 cells at least 10° north of it have seasons six months apart and are left out, not combined into a year no place has. These figures are across the 72 cells that remain: the 68 at least 10° south and the 4 within 10° of the equator, which stay in either way.

The daily extremes were read at a NASA POWER cell that is 32% land: neither it nor the next candidates whose coldest month's mean nightly low is within 2 °C of the median across cells sit in a POWER cell that is mostly land, and the rule reads a cold floor only from a cell that is mostly land, so none is read for this species. Nor is the coldest month's mean nightly low taken as one: it is a mean of a month's lows, not its coldest night. What that cell gave over 44 years: absolute minimum 14.1 °C, 1st-percentile night 17.6 °C, 99th-percentile day 30.1 °C.

How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 72 grid cells on land that hold in-range records (92 records in those cells; 14 more cells hold records but no land by the elevation layer, so those records sit at sea and the cells are left out), with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 2203:6580 (-20.175, 149.025). Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 72 distinct grid cells holding 92 of the 167 in-range records (14 further cells with records at sea, by the elevation layer, left out) on the southern side of the equator (38 cells poleward of 10° north, 68 poleward of 10° south: the two sides' seasons are not combined, and cells within 10° of the equator stay in); extremes and elevation at the typical cell 2203:6580 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells, though its NASA POWER cell is only 32% land and none of the 11 next candidates within 2 °C of the median was mostly land); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -20.00_148.750, lapse-corrected +3 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 15 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeSolomon Is., Queensland, Fiji, Niue, New Caledonia, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, Wallis-Futuna Is., Cook Is., Marquesas, Pitcairn Is., Society Is., Tuamotu, Tubuai Is., Caroline Is., Marianas, Hawaii · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker21.496, -157.975 · in the densest population, 348 records (47% of those in range)
Kew's description“scrambling shrub” · “wet tropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 744 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 92 of them in the land cells it reads, of 167 placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 376 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 6 km away. 11 records outside the WCVP native range not used. 577 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
Other GBIF keysRecords also from GBIF's key 12058399 (Alyxia aromatica Reinw. ex E.A.Duchesne): Kew's file holds it as Alyxia aromatica Reinw. ex E.A.Duchesne (illegitimate under Alyxia stellata (J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.) Roem. & Schult.); 0 records, from GBIF's search API on the day of the build.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 744 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Alyxia stellata, photograph 1did not loadAlyxia stellata, photograph 2did not loadAlyxia stellata, photograph 3did not loadAlyxia stellata, photograph 4did not loadAlyxia stellata, photograph 5did not loadAlyxia stellata, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: (c) Brynn Fricke, some rights reserved (CC BY) (5); (c) Neal Kelso, some rights reserved (CC BY).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Canavalia sericea Canavalia sericea Silky jackbean Photo: CC BY, Debra BakerPavetta opulina Pavetta opulina Rubiaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Zoé ThivetAcacia simplex Acacia simplex Tataagia Photo: CC BY, Neal KelsoElattostachys apetala Elattostachys apetala Sapindaceae Photo: CC0, author not statedCyphostemma mappia Cyphostemma mappia Vitaceae Photo: CC BY, Ben Delarbrea paradoxa Myodocarpaceae

Other Alyxia 4 in the reference

Alyxia buxifolia Alyxia buxifolia Dysentery-bush Photo: CC BY, Rosalie LawrenceAlyxia gynopogon Alyxia gynopogon Apocynaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, bushmanjimAlyxia magnifolia Alyxia magnifolia Apocynaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Mark MarathonAlyxia ruscifolia Alyxia ruscifolia Chainfruit Photo: CC0, author not stated

Names & registers

Also known as Alyxia amoena; Alyxia brevipes; Alyxia brevipes var. macrocarpa; Alyxia elliptica; Alyxia latilimba and 46 more. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipediaiNaturalist

The record

Family
Apocynaceae
Described by
(J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.) Roem. & Schult.
Native to
Solomon Is., Queensland, Fiji +15
Wild records
744 in range · 376 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-21
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-21
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-21
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-21names fetched 2026-10-21
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredasked 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 0 records of GBIF's key 12058399, Alyxia aromatica Reinw. ex E.A.Duchesne (Kew's file holds it as Alyxia aromatica Reinw. ex E.A.Duchesne (illegitimate under Alyxia stellata (J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.) Roem. & Schult.)): GBIF occurrence search API; 8 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (8 at a botanic garden or arboretum; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-21
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-21NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -20.00_148.750, lapse-corrected +3 m at 6.5 °C/km; read, and set aside: NASA POWER's cell is mostly sea (32% land), so no cold floor is shown
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-21
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-21
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild answeredasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-21
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 57 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

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