About Atractocarpus hirtus (F.Muell.) Puttock
Atractocarpus hirtus, commonly known as the hairy gardenia, is a straggly woody rainforest shrub that reaches 4 to 5 m (13 to 16 ft) in height. It gets its common name from the dense covering of soft hairs on its stems, leaves, and fruits. This species has stipules that are approximately 13 mm (0.51 in) long. Its leaves are simple, lanceolate, and arranged oppositely or in whorls of 3 to 4; they measure around 18 cm (7.1 in) long by 5 cm (2.0 in) wide, are dark green, and have 11 to 14 lateral veins on each side of the midrib. The flowers of Atractocarpus hirtus are pentamerous, actinomorphic, strongly scented, and carried in small terminal clusters. The green calyx tube is about 30 mm (1.2 in) long, with lobes reduced to small teeth. The corolla is white, with a tube 25–30 mm (0.98–1.18 in) long and five lobes (petals) that are 20–30 mm (0.79–1.18 in) long. The anthers, which stay within the corolla tube, measure 6–9 mm (0.24–0.35 in) long, while the pistil measures 20–25 mm (0.79–0.98 in) long. This species is gynodioecious, meaning individual plants are either female or hermaphroditic. The fruit is a densely hairy drupe, somewhat pear-shaped, measuring around 20 mm (0.79 in) in diameter by 30 to 50 mm (1.2 to 2.0 in) long, including the persistent attached calyx tube. The fruit body is orange, the retained calyx tube is green, and it holds numerous 7 mm (0.28 in) long seeds immersed in orange pulp. Flowering takes place from May to November, and fruits ripen from December to August. This species is endemic to a small area of the World Heritage-listed Wet Tropics of Queensland, Australia, with a distribution stretching from Cape Tribulation in the north to Hinchinbrook Island in the south. It grows at altitudes from sea level up to around 1,000 m (3,300 ft).
