Pearl Bluebush
Plain
Ellura
Pearl Bluebush
Structure
 
                      
Pearl Bluebush (Maireana sedifolia)Class: Plants (Plantae) - Land Plants (Charophyta) - Land Plants (Equisetopsida)
Order: Betalains (Caryophyllales)
Family: Goosefoot (Chenopodiaceae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Pearl Bluebush (Maireana sedifolia)
This Photo:     🔍A Sea of Pearl🔎
Other names: Dense Bluebush or Bluebush

Thank you Asimakis Patitsas & Dr Kym Nicolson for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA), the Flinders Ranges, the Riverland and elsewhere
These are very easy to spot.
They are very bright at certain times of year and almost glow. Like the old silver Xmas trees.
Medium sized bushes with cylindrical grey/silver leaves.
From a distance, very easy to confuse with Bluebush Daisy in shape and colour. Up close it's easy to spot the difference.
Generally smaller than the Bluebush Daisy in our area.
Leaves are very felted / covered in silky fibres (which is shiny).
Not the different gender flowers, and the size of the fruit, compared to the leaves, in the different aged fruits here. The fruit grows behind the red female flower. When the flower germinates the fruit then grows, with the flower turning brown in the centre as it dies.
They are known not to flower for a decade. We still haven't seen ours flower or fruit in 8 years.

Similar Species: Bluebush Daisy (Cratystylis conocephala)

Copyright © 2017-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 01-Dec-2017
This species is classed as LC (Least Concern) in the Murray Mallee, SA, by DENR (Regional Species Status Assessments, July 2010)