Dillon Bush

Dillon Bush photos

Family: Twinleaf (Zygophyllaceae)

Scientific Name:

Nitraria billardierei

Dillon Bush - plant
Photo: A J Brown

Other Common Names:

Nitre-bush, Karumbil, Wild Grape

Status:

Native to inland areas of Australia.

Plant Description:

Rigid spreading perennial shrub, 1 – 2 m in height and often more in diameter, the branchlets often tangled and sometimes spiny. Leaves alternate, more often clustered, mostly oblong, 1 – 4 cm long, thick, flat, smooth, blue-green or green, with only one visible vein.

Flowers small, white, borne in small clusters along the branches, with five concave and hooded petals 3 – 4 mm long.

Fruit a fleshy ovoid-oblong drupe, 1 – 2 cm long, becoming purple, red or golden when ripe, containing a single tapered highly sculptured stone. Flowering mainly in spring, with the fruit ripening mid-summer.

Habitat:

On loam and clay soils, particularly abundant on over-grazed open plain and floodplain areas, often in association with Bladder Saltbush, Black Box and Myall. Also along loamy, saline creek flats and on flat or low-lying areas in many communities.

Region	Salinity Class	Waterlogging Class
Mallee, Loddon Murray	S0, S1, S2, S3, S4	W1, W2, W3

Dillon Bush Photos

Dillon Bush - young leaf shoots Photo: A J Brown	Dillon Bush - mature leaves and woody stems Photo: A J Brown
Dillon Bush - flower Photo: A J Brown	Dillon Bush - immature fruit Photo: A J Brown
[ Dillon Bush - flowering Photo: A J Brown	Dillon Bush - mature fruit Photo: A J Brown

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