bio.wikisort.org - Plant

Exocarpos strictus, with common names pale-fruit ballart, pale ballart, and dwarf cherry,[1][2] is an adaptably versatile erect shrub bearing cherry-like fruit, that forms dense thickets, that is native to parts of Australia (including Tasmania). E. strictus was described by botanist Robert Brown in 1810.

Exocarpos strictus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Santalales
Family:	Santalaceae
Genus:	Exocarpos
Species:	E. strictus
Binomial name
Exocarpos strictus R.Br.
Occurrence data from AVH

Branches and leaves

Though often hairy early on, E. strictus'  branches typically become fine and vertical; occasionally they become either stout or long (rarely above 3.5 m) and bending downward with the weight of their foliage and/or fruit.[2]

Its leaves are 1 – 3 mm in length, caducous, linear, subulate, and vary in color from light green to a bluish-green, and ashy to bronze[2]

Flowers

The flowers of E. strictus grow in little pedunculate or sessile clusters numbering 2–6. They have 4 or 5, triangular, tepals that measure about 0.5 mm long. The pedicel is 2–7 mm long, succulent, broadly obovoid, and colored either mauve, red, or white.[2]

E. strictus flowers all year round.[3]

Fruit

The fruit of E. strictus superficially resemble stunted cherries. They are drupes measuring 2.5 – 4 mm, are ovoid or globose, shiny, and green to purple-black in coloration.[2]

Distribution and occurrence

E. strictus grows in great numbers in all but the very wettest and driest of habitats ranging from heathland to open forests to denser woodland.[3]

It is common in Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory[2]

References

External links

• Australian Plant Image Index has a picture of Exocarpos strictus

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