Male flowers and leaves. Photographer Michelle Brown, Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

Female flowers and leaves. Photographer Don Wood, Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

Leaves and leaf buds. Photographer Michelle Brown, Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

Shrub. Photographer Michelle Brown, Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

Bark. Photographer Michelle Brown, Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

Common Name

Mallee Bitter Bush, Water Bush

Family

Euphorbiaceae

Notes

Shrub to 2m tall.  Leaves alternating up the stems, or alternating up the stems and opposite each other, 2-10cm long, 20-80mm wide, flat, hairy to sparsely hairy, lobed or unlobed, the edges flat or wavy, sometimes toothed.  Male and female flowers on different plants.  Flowers green or yellow, with 0 petals.  Male flowers with 4-5 sepals, female flowers with 5-8 sepals.  Flower clusters at the tops of the stems, male flower clusters mixed with bracts in cylindrical spikes with up to 30 flowers, female flower clusters in 1-7 flowered spikes.

Description and photo (as Adriana hookeri) in G.M. Cunningham, WE Mulham, PL Milthorpe and J H Leigh (1981 and later printings) Plants of Western New South Wales pages 452-453

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