Common Name: Leafless Currant-bush
Botanical Name: Leptomeria aphylla
Family: SANTALACEAE
Description:
Leafless, erect to spreading, much-branched shrub to 1.5 m high, with many smooth, rigid, upright stems. Olive-green, cylindrical, smooth branchlets, mostly leafless, to 2 mm thick, usually ending a sharp point. Small, white to red-brown flowers, clustered in spike-like racemes, to 1 cm long. Summer to early winter (January to June). Succulent, greenish, rounded drupe (edible), to 8 mm long. Late winter to spring.
Leafless, erect to spreading, much-branched shrub to 1.5 m high, with many smooth, rigid, upright stems. Olive-green, cylindrical, smooth branchlets, mostly leafless, to 2 mm thick, usually ending a sharp point. Small, white to red-brown flowers, clustered in spike-like racemes, to 1 cm long. Summer to early winter (January to June). Succulent, greenish, rounded drupe (edible), to 8 mm long. Late winter to spring.
Natural Distribution:
Scattered (never common) throughout the Murray region, Eyre Peninsula, Southern Lofty, Northern Lofty, Kangaroo Island and South-East. Extends into NSW, Vic and Tas. Common to woodland and mallee areas.
Scattered (never common) throughout the Murray region, Eyre Peninsula, Southern Lofty, Northern Lofty, Kangaroo Island and South-East. Extends into NSW, Vic and Tas. Common to woodland and mallee areas.
Notes:
A regionally endangered species in the Northern Lofty. Edible fruits are acidic tasting. Genus name Leptomeria is derived from the Greek for 'slender branchlets'.
A regionally endangered species in the Northern Lofty. Edible fruits are acidic tasting. Genus name Leptomeria is derived from the Greek for 'slender branchlets'.
