Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Bertya cunninghamii

Flowering stems (male flowers) (subsp. cunninghamii). Photographer Don Wood, Bungonia State Conservation Area near Goulburn

Flowering branch (female flowers) (subsp. pubiramula). Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Hiawatha State Forest north of West Wyalong

Shrub  (subsp. pubiramula). Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Hiawatha State Forest north of West Wyalong

Common name

Gooma bush, Wallaby bush

Family

Euphorbiaceae

Where found

Forest, mallee, woodland, and stream banks.

subsp. cunninghamii:  Bungonia State Conservation Area.

subsp. pubiramula:  Western Slopes near West Wyalong.

Notes

Shrub to 3 m high, more or less hairless. Branches slender, more or less sticky. Leaves alternating up the stems, 1–2 cm long, about 1 mm wide, margins strongly rolled down. Male and female flowers on different plants or on the same plant. Flowers with 4-5 'petals' 2–3 mm long. 'Petals' of female flowers not enlarging under the seed cases. Flowers on very short stalks. Flowering: most of the year.

PlantNET description of species:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Bertya~cunninghamii (accessed 5 January, 2021)

subsp. cunninghamii: Branchlets hairless.

subsp. pubiramula: Branchlets sparsely stellate hairy (needs a hand lens or a macro app on your phone/tablet to see).

Identification key to subspecies in:  Halford, D.A. & Henderson, R.J.F. (2002), Studies in Euphorbiaceae A.L.Juss. sens. lat. 3. A revision of Bertya Planch. (Ricinocarpeae Mull.Arg., Bertyinae Mull.Arg.). Austrobaileya 6(2): 197