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Ruby Saltbush

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Ruby Saltbush photos

Scientific Name:Enchylaena tomentosa
Ruby Saltbush - plant Ruby Saltbush plant
Photo: A J Brown


Other Common Names:


Barrier Saltbush, Plum Puddings, Barry Cotton Bush

Status:

Native to mainly inland areas of all mainland States and Territories of Australia.


Plant Description:

A semi-
succulent, perennial, much-branched shrub, up to nearly 1m tall. Leaves and stems are covered with hairs (woolly hairs on the stems),. Leaves are short (6-15 mm), cylindrical, rounded and fleshy with a velvety surface.

Flowers are small and solitary, held in the leaf
axils (where leaf joins stem). Fruits are rounded, fleshy and tomato-shaped, ripening from green to red or yellow and drying to black. Flowering in spring to early summer.

Habitat:

Grows in a wide range of soil types. Most often found in well drained sandy soils.

Region
Mallee, Loddon Murray, Central and Northern, WimmeraS0, S1, S2, S3W0, W1

Comments:

A hardy shrub, resistant to drought and frost. Not normally a dominant plant in saline communities but is quite conspicuous. Often forms the shrub layer in woodlands. Not grazed much except during droughts.

The berries are edible and the plant provides useful sheep-feed in dry periods

Ruby Saltbush Photos


Photo: Ruby Saltbush - fruit
Ruby Saltbush fruit
Photo: A J Brown
Image: Ruby Saltbush
Ruby Saltbush plant
Photo: ex-Matters & Bozon

Ruby Saltbush - leaves and stem
Ruby Saltbush - showing hairy leaves and stems
Photo: A J Brown

Ruby Saltbush - fruit close
Ruby Saltbush fruit
Photo: A J Brown


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