''Exocarpos strictus'', with
common name
In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...
s pale-fruit ballart, pale ballart, and dwarf cherry,
is an adaptably versatile erect shrub bearing cherry-like fruit, that forms dense thickets, that is native to parts of
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
(including
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
). ''E. strictus'' was described by botanist Robert Brown in 1810.
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.
[
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][
]
Flowers
The flowers of ''E. strictus'' grow in little pedunculate or sessile clusters numbering 2–6. They have 4 or 5, triangular, tepal
A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...
s that measure about 0.5 mm long. The pedicel
Pedicle or pedicel may refer to:
Human anatomy
*Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures
...
is 2–7 mm long, succulent, broadly obovoid, and colored either mauve, red, or white.[
''E. strictus'' flowers all year round.]
Fruit
The fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...
of ''E. strictus'' superficially resemble stunted cherries. They are drupe
In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...
s measuring 2.5 – 4 mm, are ovoid or globose, shiny, and green to purple-black in coloration.[
]
Distribution and occurrence
''E. strictus'' grows in great numbers in all but the very wettest and driest of habitats ranging from heathland
A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...
to open forests to denser woodland
A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...
.[
It is common in Victoria, ]South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
, Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
, New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
and the Australian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...
[
]
References
External links
Australian Plant Image Index
has a picture of ''Exocarpos strictus''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5420501
strictus
Plants described in 1810
Flora of South Australia
Flora of Queensland
Flora of New South Wales
Flora of Victoria (Australia)
Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)