Homalium acuminatum

{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}

{{Speciesbox

|image=Mato roots (7374388294).jpg

|status=LC

|status_system=IUCN3.1

|status_ref={{cite iucn |url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/203514/2766920 |title=Rarotonga Homalium |date=29 March 2011 |access-date=18 September 2020}}

|genus=Homalium

|species=acuminatum

|authority=Cheeseman, 1903{{citeq|Q55760419|page=280-281}}

}}

Homalium acuminatum, the Cook Islands homalium, is a species of tree in the willow family, Salicaceae. It is endemic to the Cook Islands, growing on the islands of Rarotonga, where it is known as mato, and Mangaia, where it is known as moto.{{cite web |url=http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/species.asp?id=6241 |title=Homalium acuminatum |publisher=Cook Islands Biodiversity |date=|accessdate=18 September 2020}}{{cite web |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:779753-1 |title=Homalium acuminatum |publisher=Plants of the World |date=|accessdate=18 September 2020}} It grows to a height of up to {{cvt|20|m}}. On Rarotonga it dominates steep mountain slopes.{{cite journal |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/5093389.pdf |title=Woody Vegetation in the Upland Region of Rarotonga, Cook Islands |last=Merlin |first=Mark D. |journal=Pacific Science |volume=39 |issue=1 |date=1985 |pages=81–99 |accessdate=18 September 2020}} The IUCN Red List calls it the Rarotonga homalium and considers it endemic to Rarotonga,{{r|iucn}} though the Cook Islands Biodiversity Database lists it as also present, but "uncommon" on Mangaia.{{r|cib}}