Rhaphidophora australasica

Rhaphidophora australasica, commonly known as needle berry, is a plant in the arum family Araceae that is only found in the Wet Tropics bioregion of northeastern Queensland, Australia. It is a semi-epiphytic, robust, herbaceous, root climber reaching about 30 m tall. The dark green leaves are oblanceolate to elliptic and measure up to 40 cm long by 14 cm wide. The inflorescence is a spadix about 6-8 cm long, enclosed in a spathe about 13 cm long.

Taxonomy
This species was first described in 1897 by the Australian botanist Frederick Manson Bailey, and published in the Queensland Agricultural Journal.

Distribution and habitat
The needle berry occurs in rainforest from around Cooktown south to about Ingham, at altitudes from sea level to about 1000 m.

Conservation
This species is listed by the Queensland Government's Department of Environment, Science and Innovation as least concern. , it has not been assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).