Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Maclura cochinchinensis
Common name
Cockspur thorn
Family
Moraceae
Where found
Forest and stream banks. Coast and ranges north from Milton.
Notes
Woody climber or straggling shrub. Fruit fleshy. 'Petals' fleshy. Spines 5–25 mm long along the smaller stems. Young stems hairy with fine hairs, becoming hairless. Leaves alternating up the stems, 1–8 cm long, 15-35 mm wide, hairless, lower surface paler than upper surface, tips pointed. Male and female flowers on different plants. Flowers green to yellowish, 'petals' about 3-3.5 mm long. Male flowers with 4 'petals'; female flowers with 3-4 'petals'. Flowers in globular heads, male heads 5-8 mm in diameter, female heads 10-12 mm in diameter. Multiple fruit yellow to orange, more or less globular, 10–20 mm in diameter.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Maclura~cochinchinensis (accessed 24 January, 2021)
This identification key and fact sheets are available as a free mobile application:
