Ruby Saltbush

Scientific Name:	Enchylaena tomentosa	Ruby Saltbush plant Photo: A J Brown
Other Common Names:	Barrier Saltbush, Plum Puddings, Barry Cotton Bush
Status:	Native to mainly inland areas of all mainland States and Territories of Australia.
Plant Description:	A semi-succulent, perennial, much-branched shrub, up to nearly 1m tall. Leaves and stems are covered with hairs (woolly hairs on the stems),. Leaves are short (6-15 mm), cylindrical, rounded and fleshy with a velvety surface. Flowers are small and solitary, held in the leaf axils (where leaf joins stem). Fruits are rounded, fleshy and tomato-shaped, ripening from green to red or yellow and drying to black. Flowering in spring to early summer.
Habitat:	Grows in a wide range of soil types. Most often found in well drained sandy soils.
Comments:	A hardy shrub, resistant to drought and frost. Not normally a dominant plant in saline communities but is quite conspicuous. Often forms the shrub layer in woodlands. Not grazed much except during droughts. The berries are edible and the plant provides useful sheep-feed in dry periods

Ruby Saltbush fruit Photo: A J Brown	Ruby Saltbush plant Photo: ex-Matters & Bozon	Ruby Saltbush fruit Photo: A J Brown
Ruby Saltbush - showing hairy leaves and stems Photo: A J Brown

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