ONE-SPINE SALTBUSH

or GREY BINDYI

(Sclerolaena uniflora)

(Photos: C. Schultz, stem, fruit with horns; Cape Jervis)

There are both one-spine and two-spine saltbushes, which are very similar except for the shape of those horns you see on the fruit in the second photo. The ones pictured are just that…little horns on those lumps. In the two-spine saltbush, they are longer and spikier, more like spines than horns! Like a lot of Cape Jervis plants, the one-spine saltbush is about ankle-high. It is a sprawling perennial, with grey-green hairy leaves crowded along the stems. The leaves are about 1cm long and narrow, and possibly flat on one side. As you can see from the photos, the leaves are really fleshy, or succulent. Yellow-red, single flowers appear in October, to be followed by those hairy horned fruits. The spines are only about 2mm long, and one (or both) might not even be there. There should be a lump though, even if you can’t see the spine.