''Alyxia ruscifolia'', commonly known as the chainfruit or prickly alyxia, is a shrub of high rainfall areas in eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The natural range of distribution is from

Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

to the Wet Tropics and further north to

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

. It can be seen in a variety of different situations. Such as the sub tropical

Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Island (; formerly Lord Howe's Island) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies directly east of mainland Port ...

, surrounded by the ocean, or the tropical rainforest understorey at Kuranda in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. Or the exposed rocky cliffs on the Mount Royal Range in

, 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 Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short Internode (botany), internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is parallel or ...

forests.

Description

Usually around 2 metres tall, sometimes larger. Leaves in

whorls A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs). In nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral diagram ...

, 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.

References

http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Alyxia~ruscifolia 9 June 2009 ruscifolia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Lord Howe Island Flora of Queensland Flora of New Guinea Gentianales of Australia {{Australia-asterid-stub