Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Denhamia silvestris

Flowering stems. Photographer Don Wood, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra, ACT

Seed cases and leaves. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra, ACT

Common name

Narrow-leaved Orangebark, Orange Bush, Orange Bark

Family

Celastraceae

Where found

Forest. Mainly in the Sydney area. Occasionally coast, ranges, and the eastern part of the tablelands.

Notes

Shrub or tree to 5 m high. Leaf tips sometimes sharp. Arils on seeds thinly fleshy. Bark at first smooth, becoming fissured and scaly, grey to grey-brown. Stems with fine longitudinal ridges, hairless. Leaves alternating up the stems, 1–10 cm long, 2–15 mm wide, margins toothed or entire, tips mucronate or pointed, surfaces hairless. Flowers white to cream, with 5 petals each 1.5–2 mm long. Flowers single or in few-flowered clusters. Mature seed cases bright orange drying yellowish brown, round to oval, 3.5–8 mm long. Seeds black, surrounded by a yellowish to orange aril. Flowering: mostly October–December.

Was Maytenus silvestris.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Denhamia~silvestris (accessed 9 January, 2021)