Flowers and leaves. Australian Plant Image Index, photo: Murray Fagg, Calperum SA

Flowers, fruiting bodies, and leaves. Photo: Don Wood, Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

Plant on bluebush. Photo: Don Wood, Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

Plant. Australian Plant Image Index, photo: H Eichler, Koonamore SA

Common Name

Climbing Twinleaf

Family

Zygophyllaceae

Notes

Perennial forb to 50cm tall, or climber to 3m tall.  Leaves opposite each other, with two succulent lobes each 0.8-3.5cm long, to 2mm wide, cylindrical, hairless, with pointed tips.  Flowers yellow, with 4 petals, borne singly at the bases of the leaves.  Fruiting body with 4 wings.

Differs from Zygophyllum angustifolium in that there is no junction between the lobes and the basal portion of the leaf, and the mature fruiting body  is roundish with 4 very narrow wings. 

Differs from Zygophyllum aurantiacum ssp. aurantiacum  in that the fruiting bodies have only one seed and do not break into fruitlets, and that the petals are 3-4mm long, occasionally to 5.5mm long.

Description and photo (pages 440-441), and line drawing of fruiting body (Fig. 53f page 440) 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=Zygophyllum~eremaeum