Key C - Shrub and Sub-shrub Families and Genera

1	Multi-stemmed erect plant from 0.5-1.5 m tall but often shorter; leaves small (less than 4 cm long and 2 mm wide) with veins arising from a basal point (palmate), often minutely tri-lobed at the tip or with a wavy margin and with star-like hairs or scales; flowers 5-lobed, tiny (2-7 mm long), variously coloured white, yellow, red or purple; anthers numerous, their bases fused into a tube	*Lawrencias (Lawrencia*) Mallow Family (Malvaceae**)
1	Plant not entirely as above	2
2	Flowers with obvious petals (even if minute) or petal-like segments	3
2	Flowers without obvious petals	19
3	Petals pale coloured (white, cream, pale pink, pale blue or green)	4
3	Petals brightly coloured (yellow, purple, red or deep pink)	15
4	Flowers of ‘butterfly’ type (one large and broad ‘standard’ petal, two narrow lateral petals and one petal folded into the shape of a boat’s keel)	*Bokhara Clover (Melilotus albus*) Pea family (Fabaceae**)
4	Flowers not as above	5
5	lower petals fused into a tube (even if it has long lobes)	6
5	Flower petals free for all or most of their length	11
6	Flower tube long, narrow and orange, petal lobes white, broad and twisted like a ‘windmill-fan’	*Sea Boxes (Alyxia*) Sea-box Family (Apocynaceae**)
6	Flowers not as above	7
7	Tiny flowers in a composite head subtended by whorls of narrow bracts; flower-heads clustered at the ends of branches; leaves (particularly underside) and stems with woolly hairs	*Coast Everlastings (Ozothamnus*) Daisy Family (Asteraceae**)
7	Plants not as above	8
8	Flowers with 4 petals	*Correas (Correa*) Rue Family (Rutaceae**)
8	Flowers with 5 petals (or very occasionally four on individuals)	9
9	Flowers with purple spots in the throat of the tube	*Boobiallas (Myporum*) Boobialla Family (Myporaceae**)
9	Flowers without purple spotting	10
10	Flowers softly and densely hairy inside the throat of the tube; berries white	*Beard-heaths (Leucopogon*) Heath Family (Epacridaceae**)
10	Flowers hairless or very sparsely hairy inside the throat of the tube; berries pink to red	*Crimson Berries (Leptecophylla*) Heath Family (Epacridaceae**)
11	Flowers small with five greenish to pale yellowish petals; plants either many-stemmed wiry shrubs with small, early falling leaves or sprawling and scrambling creepers with tough circular to oval shaped leaves	*Lignums (Muehlenbeckia*) Dock Family (Polygonaceae**)
11	Plants not entirely as above	12
12	Plants scrambling over other vegetation; four greenish to creamy-white ‘petals’ (actually not true petals but sepals); fruit is an achene with a long plumose feather-like hair, when clustered together form a ball of ‘down’	*Clematises (Clematis*) Buttercup Family (Ranunculaceae**)
12	Plants not as above	13
13	Flowers ‘daisy-like’ with a ‘ray’ of conspicuous petals	*Daisy-bushes (Olearia*) Daisy Family (Asteraceae**)
13	Flowers not ‘daisy-like'	14
14	Flower petals narrow with hooded tips; plants usually large scrambling shrubs with spiny branch ends	*Dillon Bush (Nitraria billardierei*) Twinleaf Family (Zygophyllaceae**)
14	Flower petals broad and un-hooded; plants usually small compact bushes, never spiny	*Sea-heaths (Frankenia*) Sea-heath Family (Frankeniaceae**)
15	Flowers purple and white; fruit a flattened heart-shaped to circular capsule with a transparent wing	*Milkworts (Polygala*) Dock Family (Polygonaceae**)
15	Flowers and fruits not as above	16
16	Yellow and red flowers of ‘butterfly’ type (one large and broad ‘standard’ petal, two narrow lateral petals and one petal folded into the shape of a boat’s keel)	*Eutaxia (Eutaxia*) Pea Family (Fabaceae**)
16	Yellow flowers but not shaped as above	17
17	Flowers tiny and tubular in compound globular heads at the ends of a net-work of criss-crossing branches; plant covered in short, white matted hairs; leaves tiny and lying flat against branches	*Cushion Bush (Leucophyta*) Daisy Family (Asteraceae**)
17	Flowers and plants not as above	18
18	Flowers ‘daisy-like’ flowers with a ‘ray’ of conspicuous petals	*Groundsels (Senecio*) Daisy Family (Asteraceae**)
18	Flowers with 4 petals (not ‘daisy-like’)	*Twinleafs (Zygophyllum*) Twinleaf Family (Zygophyllaceae**)
19	Plants with normal flat leaves	20
19	Plants without leaves or leaves short, cylindrical and succulent	23
20	Leaves have rusty-coloured hairs on the underside in contrast to the green upperside	*Dogwoods (Pomaderris*) Pomaderris Family (Rhamnaceae**)
20	Leaves are similarly-coloured above and below or paler beneath	21
21	Fruits are globular or ovoid capsules, 1 cm dia. below three reddish-green flower parts (branched styles); leaves hairless or slightly pubescent	*Bitterbush (Adriana*) Spurge Family (Euphorbiaceae**)
21	Fruits are berries or nuts; leaves often mealy (powdery covering) on one or both surfaces	22
22	Female flowers and ultimately fruits enclosed by a pair of thickened, often spongy or corky bracteoles (small bracts)	*Saltbushes (Atriplex*) Saltbush Family (Chenopodiaceae**)
22	Female flowers without bracteoles; fruits are crimson to red berries	*Berry Saltbushes (Rhagodia*) Saltbush Family (Chenopodiaceae**)
23	Leaves present	24
23	Leaves absent or reduced to lobes indistinguishable from stems	28
24	Fruiting segments consist of 5 free or fused flat wings forming a disk	25
24	Fruiting segments not winged	26
25	Leaves rounded and succulent	*Bluebushes (Maireana*) Saltbush Family (Chenopodiaceae**)
25	Leaves spine-tipped	*Buckbushes (Salsola*) Saltbush Family (Chenopodiaceae**)
26	Fruits are yellow, orange or red berries	*Saltbushes (Enchylaena*) Saltbush Family (Chenopodiaceae**)
26	Fruits are not obvious berries	27
27	Non-woody fruits surrounded by five succulent perianth lobes, subtended by a pair of bracteoles	*Seablites (Suaeda*) Saltbush Family (Chenopodiaceae**)
27	Woody fruits surrounded by three thinly succulent perianth lobes, without any subtending bracteoles	(*Threlkeldia), Saltbush* family (Chenopodiaceae)
28	Flowers in groups of three between pairs of fused fleshy bracts with one stamen (male part) and two stigmas (females parts) each; plants often woody at the base	*Samphires (Tecticornia*) Saltbush Family (Chenopodiaceae**)
28	Flowers in groups of five or more between pairs of fused fleshy bracts with two stamens and two stigmas each; plants rarely woody at the base, though they can appear shrub-like	*Beadworts (Sarcocornia*) Saltbush Family (Chenopodiaceae**)

If the plant you are examining does not appear in this key, try Key B for Trees, as some species may be reduced to shrub size under environmental stress e.g. coastal wind pruning.

Page top