Sweet Bursaria
Bursaria spinosa ssp. spinosa
Erect small tree to 6 m and 2-3 m wide with spiny branch tips. Flowers white or creamy. Shiny narrow dark green leaves. Fruit a flattened papery capsule, bronze when mature.
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Flora Type | Shrubs |
| Other Common Names | Prickly Box, Kurwan, Tupy |
| Distinctive Features | Masses of sweet-smelling creamy flowers at the end of the branches. The papery bronze cup-shaped seed capsules (bursa = purse) are distinctive. |
| Biology | Perennial. Widespread on well-drained soils in grasslands, woodlands and dry forests. |
| Native Status | Native |
| Flowering Time | Dec-Mar |
| Taxonomy | |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Tracheophyta (Vascular Plants) |
| Class | Magnoliopsida (Flowering Plants) |
| Order | Apiales |
| Family | Pittosporaceae |
| Genus | Bursaria |
| Species | spinosa |
Honey is collected commercially. Food plant of the endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly in Vic. Folklore that leaves were used as sunscreen by fighter pilots during WW2. The wood was used by Aboriginal people to make short sticks called waddies.
| Interesting Facts | |
|---|---|
| Similar Species | Very variable species depending on habitat. Similar to B. spinosa subsp. macrophylla which has longer (>25 mm) and wider (>10 mm) leaves and spineless branches. |
| Native Status | Native |