BERRIGAN

Shrub or small tree growing to a height of between 1 and 8 m, with drooping branches and foliage, the mature bark dark-grey, rough and divided into squarish segments. It frequently forms suckers and dense stands of clones of the shrub are common. It is widespread in the Upper Darling basin including Mulga communities. It provides food for birds such as emus and honey eaters.

Leaves - alternate, dull-green, linear to linear-lanceolate, 3-20cm long, 4-7mm wide, narrowed into a short stalk, tipped with a hooked or bent point, downy when young, becoming smooth with age.

Flowers - pinkish to reddish-brown, spotted inside, borne singly or in groups of 2-3 on short stalks in the leaf axils, each flower tubular and slightly curved, expanding to 5 blunt lobes.

Fruit - blackish-purple succulent drupe, 5-12mm long, hairless, more or less globular.

Flowering most of the year.

Indigenous uses – it was believed by the Central Australia Indigenous to have mystical and sacred properties and it was of medicinal value.