Ardisia brevipedata, commonly known as rambling spearflower, is a species of plant in the primrose family Primulaceae. It is native to the Wet Tropics bioregion of Queensland, Australia.
Description Ardisia brevipedata is an understorey shrub or small tree usually growing to about in height, and occasionally to . The leaves are arranged on the twigs either alternately or spirally, and are attached by petioles about long. The leaf blades are elliptic to obovate, up to long and wide, and the venation is obscure.
Inflorescences of 12—25 individual flowers emerge from the in umbels. The flowers five petals and sepals which are pale translucent pink, cream or green, and measure about long and wide. The fruit is a red globose berry about .
Taxonomy It was first described in 1868 by the German-Australian botanist Ferdinand von Mueller, and published in his massive work Fragmenta phytographiæ Australiæ. The description was based on an unnumbered specimen collected by John Dallachy in Rockingham Bay.
Distribution and habitat The species is found in the Wet Tropics bioregion of northeast Queensland, ranging from Paluma Range National Park in the south to the area around Rossville in the north. It inhabits rainforests at altitudes from sea level to about .
Plants of the World Online and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility state that the plant also occurs in New Guinea, while Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants and Flora of Australia both state that it is endemic to Queensland.
Conservation , this species has been assessed to be of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and by the Queensland Government under its Nature Conservation Act.
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External links
View a map of herbarium collections of this species at the Australasian Virtual Herbarium View observations of this species on iNaturalist View images of this species on Flickriver.com