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Sweet Bursaria

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Sweet Bursaria photos

Scientific Name:Bursaria spinosa
Sweet Bursaria tree
Sweet Bursaria tree
Photo: A J Brown

Other Common Names:
Blackthorn, Christmas Bush, Prickly Box, Native Box, Kurwan

Status:
Native throughout Australia, except for Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

Plant Description:

An erect, prickly shrub or small to medium tree up to 10 m high. Branches usually spiny at their terminals. Leaves are linear to ovate, 20-45 cm long and 3-12 mm wide with a thick, slightly turned-down margin and a small point in a notch at their apices. The upper leaf surface is normally hairless, while the lower is hairy.

Flowers are creamy-white and sweetly scented, 7-10 mm diameter and borne in dense terminal panicles, 10-25 cm long. Fruit is a flattened, purse-like capsule, 4-10 mm long and 6-9 mm wide.

Habitat:
Throughout Australia in a wide variety of habitats, except for the alps.

Comments:
The wood of Sweet Bursaria has been used for tool handles and cabinet making. The leaves contain aesculin (a coumarin), used as an ingredient in sun-tan lotions. Also used by bees for honey production.

Sweet Bursaria Photos

Lower trunk of Sweet Bursaria
Lower trunk of Sweet Bursaria
Photo: A J Brown
Upper trunk of Sweet Bursaria
Upper trunk of Sweet Bursaria
Photo: A J Brown

Flower panicle of Sweet Bursaria
Flower panicle of Sweet Bursaria
Photo: A J Brown

Flowers of Sweet Bursaria
Flowers of Sweet Bursaria
Photo: A J Brown

Leaves of Sweet Bursaria
Leaves of Sweet Bursaria
Photo: A J Brown

Flowers and fruit of Sweet Bursaria
Flowers and fruit of Sweet Bursaria
Photo: A J Brown

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