| Exocarpos sparteus | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Santalales |
| Family: | Santalaceae |
| Genus: | Exocarpos |
| Species: | E. sparteus |
| Binomial name | |
| Exocarpos sparteus | |
 | |
| Occurrence data from AVH | |
Exocarpos sparteus is an Australian endemic plant species, commonly known as the broom ballart, slender cherry, [1] or native cherry. The species is found in all states of mainland Australia.
A shrub, four metres tall, erect, with drooping branchlets, almost leafless. The species bears flowering branchlets, which may have small, greenish-yellow, and stalkless leaves. The flowers are just 1 mm across and of a similar colour, occasionally white. The fruit of this species is egg-shaped, pink or red, and between 4 and 5 mm long.
The habit of this plant is upright, becoming slightly curved, combining with the many regular branches to form a rounded aspect. The smooth and spherical appearance of the species is given by the droop of the branchlets, the similar colour and size of the leaves and flowers, and upcurving of the outward branches.
The specific name is derived from the Latin word esparto, referring to a kind of Spanish grass that was used for its fibre. It was first described by Robert Brown, in 1810, having collected the plants on his visit to King George Sound in 1802. One of the species' common names, native cherry, is given to another congener with an edible fruit, Exocarpos cupressiformis ; both of these species are known as sorts of Ballart. The Noongar peoples know the plant as Chukk, Dtulya or Merrin. [2]
The fruit of E. sparteus is eaten by Australian ringnecks (Barnardius zonarius) and, presumably, other birds. It is also thought to be the Exocarpos species eaten by people in Australia, especially prior to colonisation. The species is a hemi-parasite, gaining nutrients from other plant's roots, a process undertaken by many in the Santalaceae family.
Viminaria juncea is the single species in the genus Viminaria endemic to Australia. The genus is in the pea family Fabaceae. It is colloquially known as native broom after its resemblance to the related European broom plants. The Noongar peoples know the plant as koweda.
Agonis flexuosa is a species of tree that grows in the south west of Western Australia. It is easily the most common of the Agonis species, and is one of the most recognisable trees of Western Australia, being commonly grown in parks and on road verges in Perth.
Allocasuarina fraseriana, commonly known as western sheoak, common sheoak, WA sheoak. Fraser's sheoak or just sheoak, is a tree in the family Casuarinaceae. Endemic to Western Australia, it occurs near the coast in the south west corner of the State, from Jurien to Albany . The Noongar peoples know the tree as kondil.condil, kulli or gulli.
Corymbia calophylla, commonly known as marri, is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It is a tree or mallee with rough bark on part or all of the trunk, lance-shaped adult leaves, branched clusters of cup-shaped or pear-shaped flower buds, each branch with three or seven buds, white to pink flowers, and relatively large oval to urn-shaped fruit, colloquially known as honky nuts. Marri wood has had many uses, both for Aboriginal people, and in the construction industry.
The cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus. The plants themselves are also called cherries, and the wood they produce is called cherry.
Exocarpos is a genus of flowering shrubs and small trees in the sandalwood family, Santalaceae. They are found throughout Southeast Asia, Australia and the Pacific Islands.
Persoonia longifolia, commonly known as snottygobble, is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It is a shrub or small tree characterised by its weeping foliage, yellow flowers and distinctive flaky bark.
Exocarpos cupressiformis, with common names that include native cherry, cherry ballart, and cypress cherry, belongs to the sandalwood family of plants. It is a species endemic to Australia. Occasionally the genus name is spelt "Exocarpus" but it appears to be mostly no longer in use.
Eucalyptus macrocarpa, commonly known as mottlecah, is a species of mallee that is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has smooth bark, usually sessile, heart-shaped adult leaves arranged in opposite pairs, large red flowers and broad conical fruit.
Eucalyptus pleurocarpa, commonly known as tallerack, talyerock or tallerack is a species of mallee that is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It has smooth bark, broadly lance-shaped to elliptical, grey or glaucous leaves that are arranged more or less in opposite pairs, flower buds in groups of seven, whitish flowers and glaucous, barrel-shaped fruit. It is easily recognised in the field by its form, large, white, waxy leaves and, when in flower, its stamens clustered in four groups.
Grevillea floripendula, commonly known as Ben Major grevillea or drooping grevillea, is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to a restricted area of Victoria, Australia. It is a spreading, low-lying to prostrate shrub with divided leaves with toothed lobes and clusters of greenish to mauve and blackish flowers with a yellow to red style.
Allocasuarina verticillata, commonly known as drooping she-oak or drooping sheoak, is a nitrogen fixing native tree of southeastern Australia.
Exocarpos strictus, with common names 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. E. strictus was described by botanist Robert Brown in 1810.
Melaleuca phoenicea, commonly known as scarlet bottlebrush or lesser bottlebrush, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. The Noongar peoples know the plant as tubada. It is a shrub with thick, blue-green leaves and spikes of scarlet bottlebrush flowers in spring and summer.
Casuarina obesa, commonly known as swamp she-oak, swamp oak or western swamp oak, or as goolee, kweela, kwerl and quilinock by the Noongar peoples, is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to southern continental Australia. It is a dioecious small tree or shrub that forms root suckers, and has drooping or spreading branchlets, the leaves reduced to scales in whorls of 12 to 16, the fruit 10–20 mm (0.39–0.79 in) long containing winged seeds (samaras) 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) long.
Coprosma quadrifida is a dioecious shrub of the family Rubiaceae native to southeastern Australia. First described as Canthium quadrifidum by Labillardiere, it was given its current name by B. L. Robinson in 1910. Typically found at damp sites within woodlands, Eucalyptus forests or cool-temperate rainforests, it prefers sheltered slopes or sites near water sources. They are able to withstand frost and are salt tolerant. The species is also known as the Prickly Currant Bush.
Xylomelum occidentale, commonly known as the western woody pear, is a tree species in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to Western Australia.
Exocarpos latifolius is a species of parasitic tree, in the plant family Santalaceae. They have the common names broad leaved ballart, scrub sandal-wood, scrub cherry, oringorin, broad leaved cherry or native cherry. The species is found in monsoon forest, littoral rainforest and occasionally in more open forest types in Malesia and across Northern Australia.
Eucalyptus angulosa, also known as the ridge fruited mallee or southern ridge fruited mallee, is a eucalypt that is native to Western Australia. The Noongar peoples know the tree as quarral or kwaral.
Corymbia leptoloma, commonly known as yellowjacket or Paluma Range yellowjacket, is a species of tree that is endemic to Queensland. It has rough, tessellated bark on the trunk and branches, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven and barrel-shaped, urn-shaped or shortened spherical fruit.