Family: Melastomataceae
Medinilla apoensis (philippine pink) is a shrub in the family Melastomataceae native to the Philippines. Medinilla apoensis is known for its attractive appearance and is grown as an ornamental houseplant or in botanical gardens, it is a rare medinilla and not normally found in the plant trade. There are no records of naturalization or invasiveness for this plant. However, other Medinilla species have become invasive, and a number of melastomes are considered invasive once naturalized in tropical and subtropical environments outside their range.
High Risk Traits:
- Thrives in tropical climates
- Other Medinilla species have become invasive
- Shade-tolerant
- Reproduces by seeds
- Seeds dispersed by birds and intentionally by people
- Small seed size may facilitate accidental dispersal
- Gaps in biological and ecological information may reduce accuracy of risk prediction
Low Risk Traits:
- No reports of invasiveness or naturalization, but limited evidence of cultivation outside native range
- Unarmed (no spines, thorns, or burrs)
- Non-toxic
- Ornamental value
- Grows predominantly as an epiphyte, and any potential impacts may be limited to competition with the native epiphytic biota of a region (i.e. unlikely to transform the fundamental structure of an ecosystem)
