Streptothamnus moorei F.Muell. — Coast redberry-vine

Introduction

Streptothamnus moorei F.Muell., the coast redberry-vine, is an evergreen woody climber of subtropical and warm rainforest in southeastern Queensland and northeastern New South Wales. Its broad, softly textured leaves, pale pink to cream flowers, and dark ripening berries make it a distinctive but relatively little-known component of eastern Australia’s climbing flora. Within Berberidopsidaceae it is the sole accepted species of Streptothamnus, the sister genus of Berberidopsis (Royal Botanic Garden Sydney 2026; Menegoz et al. 2024).

Ferdinand von Mueller described this vine in 1862 from material collected by Charles Moore near the Clarence River. The epithet was originally printed as moorii and corrected to moorei in Mueller’s 1863 index; the older spelling is encountered in historical nomenclatural sources but does not represent a second species. A second Australian plant originally associated with Streptothamnus was transferred to Berberidopsis beckleri in 1984 after detailed examination of floral and anatomical features (Mueller 1862; Veldkamp 1984).

The flowers of coast redberry-vine have a comparatively conventional construction: typically five persistent sepals, five deciduous petals, and about 70 stamens. The petals are pale pink to creamy white and were described as strongly fragrant by collectors. The oval berry becomes dark red to black and retains the sepals at its base. This differs from the pink-and-white tape-vine coralplant, which generally has numerous spirally arranged tepals, only about a dozen stamens, and a persistent extrastaminal disk. In foliage the two can also differ: S. moorei lacks the small hairy vein-axil pockets characteristic of B. beckleri (Veldkamp 1984; Royal Botanic Garden Sydney 2026).

Genetic evidence confirms that coast redberry-vine is not merely a floral variant of its Australian neighbor. The split between Streptothamnus and Berberidopsis is estimated at roughly 45.8 million years, though the molecular-clock estimate has substantial uncertainty. That depth, combined with floral and seed differences, supports their recognition as separate genera (Menegoz et al. 2024).

Horticultural and Agricultural Uses

There is little documented commercial horticulture for coast redberry-vine. Its glossy foliage, aromatic flowers, and colored fruits suggest ornamental interest, but the available botanical treatments provide habitat and morphology rather than tested garden-hardiness, propagation, or commercial-production instructions (Veldkamp 1984; Flora of Australia 2026).

The species is recorded in warmer rainforest and wet forest margins on eastern Australian ranges and coastal districts. For scientific cultivation, that provenance argues for sheltered, moist conditions rather than assumptions based on either the Chilean red coralplant or the higher-elevation Australian tape-vine coralplant. Published accounts do not justify precise cold-tolerance claims or a species-specific propagation recipe (Royal Botanic Garden Sydney 2026; Flora of Australia 2026).

Conservation Concerns

The native distribution extends from southeastern Queensland into northeastern New South Wales, where the species is described as uncommon in warmer rainforest north of the Clarence River. Earlier collectors considered it rare but locally common where suitable habitat survived. The continuity of rainforest habitat and the survival of native populations matter especially for this species because the loss of S. moorei would eliminate its entire genus (Veldkamp 1984; Royal Botanic Garden Sydney 2026).

Kew’s online record presents a model-based prediction of lower extinction risk, but this is a statistical prediction rather than a formal global Red List assessment. The reviewed sources do not establish a formal global threatened category or a documented population trend; a more specific claim would exceed the available evidence (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2026).

Additional Information

Plants of the World Online (opens in a new tab): Accepted species name and distribution.
PlantNET: Flora of New South Wales (opens in a new tab): Identification, floral measurements, and NSW distribution.
Flora of Australia (opens in a new tab): Extended Australian taxonomic and morphological treatment.

References and Further Reading

Flora of Australia (2026) Streptothamnus moorei F.Muell. Australian Biological Resources Study and Atlas of Living Australia. https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Streptothamnus%20moorei (opens in a new tab). Accessed 17 October 2026.

Menegoz K, Villarroel AE & Lavandero N (2024) Phylogeny of Berberidopsidales based on nuclear and chloroplast loci, with the description of a new species of Berberidopsis endemic to Central Chile. Taxon 73: 800–817. https://doi.org/10.1002/tax.13170 (opens in a new tab)

Mueller F von (1862) Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae 3: 27–28.

Royal Botanic Garden Sydney (2026) PlantNET, Flora of New South Wales: Streptothamnus moorei F.Muell. Treatment by G.J. Harden (1990). https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Streptothamnus~moorei (opens in a new tab). Accessed 17 October 2026.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2026) Plants of the World Online: Streptothamnus moorei F.Muell. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:123038-3 (opens in a new tab). Accessed 17 October 2026.

Veldkamp JF (1984) Berberidopsis (Flacourtiaceae) in Australia. Blumea 30(1): 21–29. https://repository.naturalis.nl/document/565997 (opens in a new tab)