Classification

Domain: Eukarya
  Kingdom: Planteae
     Phylum: Magnoliophyta
         Class: Magnoliopsida (dicot)
             Order: Rubiales
                Family: Rubiaceae (coffee family)
                     Genus: Morinda
                         Species: Morinda citrifolia

Eukarya: Morinda citrifolia is a eukaryote with organelles and a nucleus. This organism is also multicellular with linear chromosomes and has male and female parts on each plant, meaning it can reproduce sexually. Eukarya also have 80s ribosomes.

Plantae: Noni are autotrophs that photosynthesize, and have chloroplasts. These organism also have the ability to prevent water loss with structures called guard cells and obtain carbon dioxide and release oxygen with openings called stomata. Noni usually have alternation of generations, meaning they have multicellular haploid and diploid stages. This plant also posses a cell wall made of cellulose, unlike fungi and bacteria that usually have cell walls made of chitin.

 

Magnoliophyta: Noni have a true flower and is pollinated by various animals, such as bees, or can self-pollinate. This organism produces fruits that bear the seeds of the plant and can bee eaten by animals, including birds, mice, and cattle. Noni also have the ability to double fertilize and produce endosperm.

Magnoliopsida: This is the dicotyledonous class of angiosperms. Nonis have the ability for secondary growth due to the rings of xylem and phloem and have an area between the xylem and phloem called the vascular cambium. Noni leaves have branched veins and have flower petals in multiples of 4 or 5.

Rubiales: Rubiales are characterize by having an inferior compound ovary. Coffee plants are apart of this order.

Rubiaceae: Ruciaceae usually live in very humid tropical areas and is widespread, but rarely found in aquatic environments. It consists of mostly small trees and shrubs that are found annually. Plants in this family can have bisexual or unisexual flowers. These plants usually lack an internal phloem and have simple leaves that can be opposite or appeared whorled. This family also is a heterostyly, or “different styles”, meaning it has a couple different lengths of mature flowers; in fact, this family has more species with dimorphic heterostyly, or two different lengths of flowers, than any other angiosperm family. This thought to be a safeguard for cross-pollination because it’s most likely to have pollination of a longer flower from a shorter one, and vice versa, than to have two of the same type of flower being pollinated.  

Morinda: There are about 80 species within this genus. The Morinda genus includes trees, shrubs, and vines and there are a few species that exhibit "vine-like" characteristics, such as Morinda citrifolia. One thing that all the species in this genus have is syncarps or capitula (aggregated fruits) which can be fleshy or dry.

Morinda citrifolia: The Noni’s scientific name, Morinda citrifolia, tells you something about the species. The genus name Morinda is derived from the word morus meaning mulberry, and indicus meaning Indian; this name is indicating that the plants fruit is similar to a true mulberry. The species name citrifolia indicates that the plant’s foliage is similar to that of a citrus species, such as oranges.  Though mostly referred to as the Noni, Morinda citrifolia has an abundance of common names in a lot of different languages. This is just a small list of them.

Canary wood - Australia
Cheesefruit - Australia
Indian Mulberry - English
Lada - Guam
Kura - Fiji
Mora de la India - Spanish
Noni - Hawaii
Nono - Tahiti
Mangal’wag - Yap
Doleur - Haiti
Wild pine - Barbados
Yor ban - Thailand  

                                                                 
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