hairy gardenia

The hairy gardenia is a straggly, woody, rainforest shrub growing up to 4 or 5 m (13 or 16 ft) tall. The stems, leaves and fruits are densely covered in soft hairs, hence the common name. Stipules are present and are around 13 mm (0.51 in) long. The lanceolate leaves are simple and opposite or 3-4 whorled, measuring around 18 cm (7.1 in) long by 5 cm (2.0 in) wide, dark green, and have between 11 and 14 lateral veins on either side of the midrib. Flowers are pentamerous and actinomorphic, quite fragrant and borne in small terminal groups. The green calyx tube is about 30 mm (1.2 in) long with lobes reduced to small teeth. The corolla is white, the corolla tube is 25–30 mm (0.98–1.18 in) long with five lobes (petals) measuring 20–30 mm (0.79–1.18 in) in length. The anthers, which do not extend beyond the corolla tube, measure about 6–9 mm (0.24–0.35 in) long; the pistil about 20–25 mm (0.79–0.98 in) long. This species is gynodioecious, that is, individual plants are either female or hermaphroditic. The fruits of this plant are a densely hairy drupe, somewhat pear-shaped and measuring about 20 mm (0.79 in) in diameter by 30 to 50 mm (1.2 to 2.0 in) long, including the attached calyx tube. The body of the fruit is orange and the calyx tube is green. …

This species is endemic to a small part of the World Heritage listed Wet Tropics of Queensland, with a range extending from Cape Tribulation in the north to Hinchinbrook Island in the south. The altitudinal range is from sea level to around 1,000 m (3,300 ft).

The genus name Atractocarpus is derived from the Ancient Greek terms átraktos, meaning "spindle", and karpós meaning "fruit", and refers to the spindle-shaped fruit of the type species. The species epithet hirtus is a Latin word meaning "hairy".