Alyxia ruscifolia, commonly known as the Chainfruit or Prickly Alyxia, is a shrub of high rainfall areas in eastern Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. The natural range of distribution is from Wollongong in New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

 to the Wet Tropics and further north to New Guinea

New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

.

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

Lord Howe Island

Lord Howe Island is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, directly east of mainland Port Macquarie, and about from Norfolk Island. The island is about 11 km long and between 2.8 km and 0.6 km wide with an area of...

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

Kuranda, Queensland

Kuranda is a town on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland, Australia, it is 25 kilometres from Cairns, via the Kuranda Range road. It is surrounded by rainforest. At the 2006 census, Kuranda had a population of 1,611.-History:...

 in Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

. Or the exposed rocky cliffs on the Mount Royal Range

Mount Royal Range

The Mount Royal Range is a mountain range in New South Wales, Australia. Prominent peaks in the range include Mount Polblue , Brumlow Tops , Gulph Mountain, Gog and Magog, The Pinnacle, Paddys Ridge, Mount William, Mount Paterson, Mount Allyn, Mount Royal , Mount Toonumbue, the Belgrave Pinnacle,...

 in New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. 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

Sclerophyll

Sclerophyll is the term for a type of vegetation that has hard leaves and short internodes . The word comes from the Greek sclero and phyllon ....

 forests.

Description

Usually around two metres tall, sometimes larger. Leaves in whorls

Whorl (botany)

In botany, a whorl is an arrangement of sepals, petals, leaves, or branches in which all the parts are attached at the same point and surround or wrap around the stem.There are four whorls in a general flower...

, narrow lanceolate to broad lanceolate in shape, 1 to 6 cm long. Thick, leathery and glossy with a pointed tip. Leaves not 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.