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Bronzeberry

Shrub type: Deciduous (Stores water in the thickened base of its stem)

This small shrub grows up to 1 foot (30.5 cm) tall and lives for decades, with the oldest known specimen being around 146 years old. It is susceptible to disease and destructive insect infestation.

It has many stocky, straight stems covered in rough, mahogany-coloured bark, and the wood inside is yellow-brown.

The branches are tall, rigid and upright with thousands of twigs that and are covered with thick bunches of giant, 6 pointed, leaves with smooth edges. The leaves themselves are a shade of emerald that gradient shifts to orange at the top, resistant and smooth.

In early spring it produces a thick sheet of medium-sized, green blossoms with fan-like petals. They are hardy and have a powerful scent that smells like meat.

In mid-autumn small oval fruits ripen. The soft bronze skin is tough and inedible, and the slightly crunchy faded orange flesh is sweet and spicy and dry. The grey seeds are tiny and are bunched at the top of the fruit.

It commonly grows in large patches.
Their seeds have hallucinogenic properties.
It is suitable for making paper