Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Gynatrix pulchella

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

Male flowering branch. Photographer Don Wood, Araluen

branches with female flowers and seed cases. Photographer Richard Hartland, Longwarry, Vic

Shrub. Photographer Lyn Allison, Westgate Park, Melbourne, Vic

Common name

Hempbush

Family

Malvaceae

Where found

Forst and shrubland, usually in wet gullies and on along streams. Widespread.

Notes

Shrub or tree to 5 m tall, hairless or covered in stellate hairs (needs a hand lens or a macro app on your phone/tablet to see). Leaves alternating up the stems, 4-15 cm long, 15-60 mm wide, bases cordate, tips pointed, margins scalloped. Male and female flowers on different plants. Flowers fragrant, reported to smell like a combination of white chocolate and custard powder. Flowers with 5 cream to white petals. Male flowers 8-12 mm in diameter, usually with a non-functional ovary. Female flowers 4-5 mm in diameter, with some non-functioning stamens. Flowers clustered. Flowers Winter to Spring. Common after fire.

All native plants on unleased land in the ACT are protected.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Gynatrix~pulchella (accessed 19 January, 2021)