slender harpullia

The slender harpullia is an evergreen, spindly, understory tree growing to 4 m (13 ft) high, and sometimes to 6 m (20 ft). The foliage is glossy dark green and consists of compound leaves with 8–10 leaflets. The petiole and rachis may or may not be winged, and the petiole is swollen where it attaches to the twig. The leaflets measure up to 17 cm (6.7 in) long by 5.5 cm (2.2 in) wide, and are attached to the rachis by a very short petiolule (leaflet stem). The inflorescences are produced in the leaf axils and are pendulous, measuring up to 70 cm (28 in) long. The flowers are strongly perfumed, the sepals about 10 mm (0.39 in) long, brown/green in colour and densely hairy, the petals about 14 mm (0.55 in) long, white and glabrous. The fruit is a velvety, yellow to reddish, bilocular capsule roughly 2 cm (0.79 in) long. Each locule usually contains two black seeds, each almost entirely covered by a yellow or red aril.

Harpullia rhyticarpa is confined to coastal rainforests of northeastern Queensland, from near Cooktown to Cardwell, including the Atherton Tableland where it is common. It grows in well-developed rainforest at altitudes from close to sea level up to around 1,200 m (3,900 ft).

It has been suggested that this plant be used in tropical gardens, although it requires specific conditions. As of 21 September 2023 there is little evidence of the species having been taken up by landscapers, and in the city of Cairns (which is in the centre of the species' natural range) there are only two specimens listed on Council's treeplotter database, both of which are associated with the Cairns Botanic Gardens.