Chainfruit

Description

Alyxia ruscifolia, commonly known as the chainfruit or prickly alyxia, is a shrub of high rainfall areas in eastern Australia. The natural range of distribution is from Wollongong in New South Wales to the Wet Tropics and further north to New Guinea. It can be seen in a variety of different situations. Such as the sub tropical Lord Howe Island, surrounded by the ocean, or the tropical rainforest understorey at Kuranda in Queensland. Or the exposed rocky cliffs on the Mount Royal Range in New South Wales, where it is subject to high winds and snow. The habitat is many types of rainforests from sea level to 1200 metres, sometimes also seen in sclerophyll forests. Usually around two metres tall, sometimes larger. Leaves in whorls, narrow lanceolate to broad lanceolate in shape, 1 to 6 cm long. Thick, leathery and glossy with a pointed tip. Leaves usually not toothed, lateral veins obvious. The leaf stem is between 1 and 4 mm long. Fragrant white flowers form in spring and summer, in terminal heads of 3 to 5 flowers. The fruit is orange to red in colour, 8 to 11 mm in diameter. Alyxia ruscifolia is a species of flowering plant. This was first described by Robert Brown. Alyxia ruscifolia belongs to the genus Alyxia, and family Apocynaceae. Alyxia is an Australasian genus of flowering plant in the dogbane family, Apocynaceae. It contains at present 106 species, but Alyxia stellata and A. tisserantii are very variable, might be cryptic species complexes, and are need of further study. It consists of shrubby, climbing or scrambling plants. This genus occurs in China, the Himalayas, Southeast Asia, Malaysia, Australia, New Caledonia and the Pacific Islands. There are 14 species in Australia, 21 in New Caledonia and 7 in the other Pacific Islands, including Hawaiʻi. The leaves are opposite or in whorls of three to seven. There are colleters (groups or tufts of mucilaginous secretory hairs) present in the leaf axils. The inflorescence is axillary or terminal with solitary flowers or simple cymes. Flowers consist of five petals and five sepals. The flowers have a slender tube which expands abruptly. The stamens have short filamens and are inserted in the upper half of the corolla. The fruit is a pair of drupes, originating from each flower.