About Alyxia spicata R.Br.
Alyxia spicata, commonly known as chain fruit, is a sprawling shrub or vine that belongs to the Apocynaceae plant family. It is native to New Guinea and the Australian tropics. It can grow up to 4 metres (13 ft) tall, with leaves arranged in whorls of 4 on vertically growing shoots and whorls of 3 on horizontal shoots. Its flowers typically have an orange tube paired with cream lobes, measure 3 to 4 mm (0.12 to 0.16 in) in diameter, and feature a hairy calyx. As the fruit ripens, it changes color through yellow and orange, finally turning black. Ripe fruits are around 10 mm (0.39 in) in diameter, and can be connected to one another like beads on a string. This species was first formally described in 1810 by Scottish botanist Robert Brown in his work Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae, from a specimen collected on Vanderlin Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Plant material of the species had been collected earlier at Cape Grafton and the Endeavour River in 1770 during Lieutenant James Cook's first voyage of discovery, and was illustrated by Sydney Parkinson. An illustration of the species was published in 1900 under the name Gynopogon spicatum in the work Illustrations of the Botany of Captain Cook's Voyage Round the World in H.M.S. "Endeavour" in 1768-71. Alyxia spicata grows naturally in rainforest, beach forest, vine thickets, and on cliffs across its range: it is found in New Guinea, the northernmost areas of Western Australia, the Northern Territory, and north-east Queensland. It grows at altitudes from sea level up to 1,000 metres (3,300 ft).
