Fruiting bodies and leaves. Photo: Don Wood, planted at Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

Fruiting bodies and leaves. Photo: Don Wood, naturally occurring at Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

Shrub. Photo: Don Wood, naturally occurring at Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

Common Name

Pink-seeded Bluebush, Downy Bluebush

Family

Chenopodiaceae

Notes

Shrub or perennial forb, woody at the base, to 50cm tall.  Leaves succulent, alternating along the stem, 0.5-1cm long, 1.5-2mm wide, flattened cylindrical, hairy, with blunt tips.  Male and female flowers on different plants.  Flowers tiny (less than 3mm across), solitary at the bases of the leaves, forming dense spikes at the ends of the branches.  Fruiting body pink to red, with a single hairy horizontal wing with one radial slit.  Upper surface of the fruiting body hairy, lower surface hairy or hairless. 

Description and photo (page 275) and line drawing of fruiting body (Fig. 47-31 page 271) in G.M. Cunningham, WE Mulham, PL Milthorpe and J H Leigh (1981 and later printings) Plants of Western New South Wales

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Maireana~trichoptera