Burgundy Willow

This average-sized shrub grows up to 3 feet (91.4 cm) tall and lives for around 27 years. It is very susceptible to disease and insect infestation.

It has numerous flexible, wavy stems covered in paper-thin, ridged, burgundy and brown bark, and the wood inside is burgundy-brown.

The branches are short, thin and wispy with hundreds of twigs that and are covered with small bunches of small, wispy, leaves with jagged edges. The leaves themselves are a shade of lime green that gradient shifts to peach at the top, rigid and clammy.

In early summer it produces copious amounts of giant, grey blossoms with circular petals with a trumpet-shaped floral cup. They fall easily and have a scent that varies in strength that smells like apple.

In midwinter long, tapering fruits ripen. The clammy lilac skin is stretchy and edible when roasted; it is bitter and salty, and the very soft pink flesh is sour and sticky. The pastel orange seeds are large and are located in the centre of the fruit.