''Enchylaena tomentosa'', commonly known as barrier saltbush or ruby saltbush, is a small native shrub of Australia.

Description

''Enchylaena tomentosa'' grows as a small perennial shrub, up to a meter in diameter. Leaves are slender and cylindrical growing to 6-15mm long, both leaves and stems are densely covered in woolly hairs. Fruits form as fleshy berries changing from bright green/yellow to bright red/orange. Fruitng

The derivation of the name helps describe and classify its features with ''Enchylaena'' coming from the Greek ''egchlos'' meaning fleshy or succulent and ''chlaen'' a cloak referring to the ripe fruiting perianth, ''tomentosa'' botanical Latin outlining that the plant is covered with dense short or curled hairs soft hair. Highly drought tolerant ''E. tomentosa'' has historically been sought after by Indigenous Australians, early settlers and livestock. Nutritional analyze gives the plant a 65% digestibility rating providing grazing species with 14% digestible protein and 6% digestible salt.

Taxonomy

It was first published by Robert Brown in 1810, as the only species of ''

Enchylaena ''Enchylaena'' is a genus of two species of small perennial shrubs endemic to Australia. Plants of this genus are commonly known as barrier saltbushes. The genus was published by Robert Brown in 1810, along with the species ''Enchylaena toment ...

''. Since that time a number of putative new species have been published based on specimens that are now referred to this species; hence it has a number of

taxonomic synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Lin ...

s. Two varieties are recognised: the

autonym Autonym may refer to: * Autonym, the name used by a person to refer to themselves or their language; see Exonym and endonym * Autonym (botany), an automatically created infrageneric or infraspecific name See also * Nominotypical subspecies, in zo ...

''E. tomentosa'' var. ''tomentosa'', and a less woolly variety, ''E. tomentosa'' var. ''glabra'', which was published by

George Bentham George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...

in 1870. Its previous family name Chenopodiaceae is now included in Amaranthaceae.

Distribution and habitat

It occurs throughout Australia, and has also naturalised in New Caledonia. It tolerates a range of soils, but prefers soils that are slightly saline. Occurring through most of semi-arid Australia, on a variety of land and soil types such as sand plains, hill slopes, creek lines, sand dunes and salt lake shores. Preferring slightly shaded soil areas under trees such as '' Alectryon oleifolius'' and ''

Acacia papyrocarpa ''Acacia papyrocarpa'', commonly known as western myall, is a tree in the family Fabaceae native to arid areas of central and western Australia. Description Western myall typically grows as a shrub or an upright tree to a height of but can ...

''. As the distribution map shows ''E. tomentosa'' is highly widespread throughout the continent, this is potentially due to a range of factors such as the plants drought resilience, ability to live in a wide range of soil/climate zones and also its seed dispersal method ''E. tomentosa'' seed is dispersed through endozoochory (seed that is dispersed through ingestion via another animal). This may potentially aid in germination of seeds, as digestion can result in the removal of fleshy pulp and the woody endocarp (scarification), these parts of the plants may act as inhibitors to germination as they can prevent germination occurring in unsuitable seasons and conditions. A study of

emu The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus '' Dromaius''. The emu ...

scat and its seed composition found that ''E. tomentosa'' made up 8.5% of the near 20,000 seeds identified, second highest only to nitre bush (''

Nitraria billardierei ''Nitraria billardierei'', commonly known as nitre bush or dillon bush, is a perennial shrub native to Australia. It is often found in saline areas or other areas which have been disturbed. This species produces flowers predominantly in spring, ...

'') which made up 80% of identified seed. This is significant as emus are known to travel over 600 km in search of more food and water, acting as a potential vector for long-distance seed dispersal and germination. Long-distance speed dispersal can improve a species genetic variation, dispersal range, increase diversity and complexity in meta-population structure. These factors can increase a species resilience to future risk of changing climate conditions and potential habitat loss

Human uses

The ripened fruit of ''E. tomentosa'' can be picked and eaten raw and is described as being salty-sweet in flavor, being picked by desert

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

as a snack food and is still frequently collected today. Indigenous groups of the Macdonell Ranges (central Australia) have been recorded to soak the fruits in water to make a sweetened tea.

Charles Sturt Charles Napier Sturt (28 April 1795 – 16 June 1869) was a British officer and explorer of Australia, and part of the European exploration of Australia. He led several expeditions into the interior of the continent, starting from Sydney and la ...

on his explorations into the semi-arid interior also recorded harvesting the leaves, which could be eaten as a vegetable after being boiled. Major Thomas Mitchell noted on his explorations through the lower Murray that children would also harvest the fruit to make pink facial decorations. In terms of grazing value "E. tomentosa" is listed as a maintenance feed; as the plant does not provide enough grazing volume to act as a sole foraging source, its drought hardiness allows it to be available in dryer times of the year such as late summer when other palatable and nutritious forage sources are absent.

References

External links

Online Field guide to Common Saltmarsh Plants of Queensland
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1340025 Amaranthaceae Caryophyllales of Australia Eudicots of Western Australia Flora of the Northern Territory Flora of South Australia Flora of Queensland Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (Australia)