Miniature spearflower
Tetrardisia bifaria

Family: Primulaceae

What it is like

A shrub up to 1.5 m tall. It spreads 30-60 cm across. The leaves are simple and 1-8 cm long by 0.5-2 cm wide. They are narrowly sword shaped. The leaves are arranged in 2 rows. The flower clusters are short with 2-5 flowers. The flowers are 0.6 cm across. The fruit are 8 mm across. The occur singly in the axils of leaves. There is one seed inside. The flesh is edible. The fruit are red.

There are about 250-300 Ardisia species. They are mainly in the tropics. Also put in the family Myrsinaceae.

Where it is found

A tropical plant. It grows in rainforest in Queensland, Australia. It grows between 40-1075 m altitude in tropical Queensland. It does best in a shady position and needs a moist well drained soil.

Countries/locations it is found in

Australia (country/location of origin)

How it is used for food

Edible parts

Fruit

How it is grown

Plants can be grown from seed or cuttings.

It is easy to grow but slow growing.

Its other names

Local names

Synonyms

Ardisia bifaria C. T. White & W. D. Francis; Tetrardisia diticha Domin;