Alphitonia petriei Braid & C.T.White

Tree or shrub (rarely) (3–) 4–15 (–20) m high. Bark smooth, dappled white and grey. Crown with numerous spreading, horizontal branches. Branchlets strongly ridged near growing point. Stipules triangular, (0.8–) 1–2 (–5) mm long. Juvenile stem indumentum dense, with rusty crisped hairs. Juvenile leaves broadly elliptic, c. 14 × 6.5 cm. Adult stem indumentum absent or sparse, hairs all crisped (no straight hairs), white, 0.05–0.1 mm high. Leaves 2-ranked; lamina ovate or narrowly elliptic to elliptic, (8–) 8.6–17.1 (–20) cm long, (2.5–) 3–5.7 (–8) cm wide (L/B ratio 2.5–3.1), base usually broadly cuneate, rarely obtuse, symmetrical or asymmetrical; apex acute, sometimes shortly mucronate; upper leaf surface dark green, glossy, glabrous except when very young, when numerous brown tortuous hairs cover the surface; lower leaf surface with abundant tiny white crisped hairs in the areoles, obscuring the lamina, and sparse to dense brown tortuous hairs to 0.25 mm long along the midrib, secondary veins and veinlets; newly expanding leaves dark brown; petiole 1.2–2.1 cm long, with hairs c. 0.1 mm long. Cymes occurring in upper leaf axils, each 4–11 (–15) cm long, to 10 cm wide, with > 50 flowers, none truly terminal (terminal only by abortion of the terminal vegetative shoot). Pedicels 3–5.5 mm long at anthesis. Bracts and bracteoles extremely small, brown, linear. Flowers 4.0–5.2 mm across, covered in greyish to rusty crisped hairs; sepals deltate, 1.5–1.9 (–2.5) mm long, 1.1–1.6 mm wide at base, spreading or recurved, glabrous internally; petals white, 1.4–1.8 (–2) mm long, ± clawed; filaments 1.3–1.8 mm long, anthers 0.3–0.5 mm long, tail c. 0.1 mm long. Disc pentagonal, grey, not papillose, surface flat or undulate, radial furrows obscure or absent, glabrous except for inner one-third, having brown hairs overlying white flexuose trichomes close to style. Style (2) 3 (4)-fid, 0.7–1.3 (–1.5) mm long after elongation, lower part hairy. Fruiting pedicels 3.5–6 mm long, 0.5–0.6 mm diam. at midpoint. Fruits black at maturity, rather glossy, glabrous, oblate, (2) 3 (4)-locular, (6–) 8–9.5 (–10) mm long, 13–14 mm diam.; calyx scar close to pedicel end; powdery mesocarp abundant. Endocarpids 4.5–5.5 mm long (excluding apiculum), c. 4.2 mm wide (when open), radius 3–3.3 mm, apiculum 0.7–1.4 mm long, terminal. Aril maroon; seed grey, 2.9–3.4 (–4.5) mm long.

Grows along the margins of notophyll rainforest or as a pioneer species in rainforest regrowth. In north Queensland, it occurs most commonly between altitudes 800 and 1200 m, although it has been recorded on top of Mount Bellenden Ker (1600 m) and extends almost to sea level where rainfall is high enough. In southern Queensland and New South Wales, it does not exceed 550 m altitude.