Rosewoods are an attractive small tree, standing up to 5 m high, often with flat-based canopies which have been stripped to the reach height of grazing animals. Trees occur either singly or in small groups which have suckered and can be found sparsely around the Fowlers Gap Station. They are often associated with belah.

Bark: dark, fissured, rough, dark grey.
Leaves: Linear to narrowly elliptic, 30-150 mm long and 3-20 mm wide, with prominent veins and covered in fine hairs. Leaves are finely pointed to obtuse, grey-green or glaucous and have a prominent mid-vein.
Flowers: occur in dense inflorescences to 10 cm long, small, cream coloured with petals absent. Stamens are 6-12, short, in the cup-shaped calyx. Flowers occur in clusters where the leaves join the stems.
Fruit: 2-3 rounded or spherical lobes, 6 mm wide, with shiny black seeds surround by a fleshy red attachment (an aril).
Source: Frank Kutsche and Brendan Lay (2003). Field guide to the plants of outback South Australia. Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation, South Australia, ISBN 0 7590 1052 8.
Phillip Moore (2005). A guide to plants of inland Australia. Reed New Holland, ISBN 1 876334 86 X.
Photo: Ian Roach

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