Australian wedding bush
Wedding bush is the most widespread member of the genus Ricinocarpos (which contains 15 species) and can be seen within coastal heath and woodland along our east coast when it is in flower during spring. It is usually found on sand dunes or on sandstone-derived soils.
A small to medium shrub, rarely exceeding 1.5 m in height with narrow, linear leaves about 30 - 40 mm long. The pure white male and female flowers are about 25 mm diameter. The flowers are similar in shape but the male flowers can be distinguished by the mass of yellow stamens. I counted on average, one female flower to up to slx male flowers. The flowers are followed by the fruit, which is a rough, globular capsule which splits when ripe to release 5 shiny seeds.
''Ricinocarpos pinifolius'' is a plant of the family Euphorbiaceae native to Eastern Australia. It was first described by French botanist René Louiche Desfontaines. Its showy fragrant white flowers are a familiar sight to bushwalkers in the spring, and are used locally in flower arranging. This plant is also called a "wedding bush" because it's white leaves represent it. On each flower, there are 5 pecks of leaves on them.
