About 230, see text Melicope is a genus of about 240 species of shrubs and trees in the family Rutaceae, occurring from the Hawaiian Islands across the Pacific Ocean to tropical Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

[7] A 2021 subfamily classification of the Rutaceae, based both on a new and previous molecular phylogenetic studies, places Melicope (with an expanded circumscription) in the subfamily Zanthoxyloideae, stating that the evidence does not yet support classification to tribal level.

[9] Molecular phylogenetic analyses also suggest that the genera Comptonella, Dutaillyea, Picrella, and possibly Dutailliopsis, all from New Caledonia, might also be nested in Melicope,[10] although they are accepted in the 2021 classification, as is the temperate Asian genus Tetradium,[8] which has sometimes been merged into Melicope (possibly including the tropical Euodia).

The larvae of some belid weevils from the genus Proterhinus also feed on Melicope although they prefer unhealthy, dying or dead specimens.

[12] Several of the Hawaiian species are listed as "endangered" by the Government of the United States of America, due to habitat loss and competition from invasive non-native plants.