Cranberry Heath

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Cranberry Heath - Gary Clark | Cranberry Heath - Cathy Powers | Cranberry Heath - Chris Clarke via NatureShare | Cranberry Heath - Chris Clarke via NatureShare

Astroloma humifusum

Dense ground-hugging plant up to 50 cm tall and 1.0-1.5 m wide. Blue-green narrow prickly leavesto 10 mm long. Flowers red and tube-shaped. Fruits are small round, green and fleshy.

Details
Flora Type
Shrubs
Distinctive Features

Bright red tube-shaped flowers. Small prickly leaves with a sharp point.
Biology

Perennial. Often grows in disturbed sites. Birds feed on the nectar and fruits. A potential food plant of the moth larvae Poecilasthena pulchraria.
Native Status
Native
Flowering Time

May-Sep but most of the year
Taxonomy
Phylum
Tracheophyta (Vascular Plants)
Class
Magnoliopsida (Flowering Plants)
Order
Ericales
Family
Ericaceae
Genus
Astroloma
Species
humifusum

Source: Atlas of Living Australia

The pale green fruits are edible and were used as food by Aboriginal people. The botanist Joeseph Maiden (1859-1925) noted that the fruits were much appreciated by schoolboys and Aborigines.

Interesting Facts
Native Status
Native