Blackwood

This modest-sized shrub grows up to 2 feet (61.0 cm) tall and lives for decades, with the oldest known specimen being around 185 years old. It is somewhat resistant to disease and destructive insect infestation.

It has dozens of narrow, straight stems covered in delicate, smooth, black bark, and the wood inside is black with white speckles.

The branches trail down to the ground with thousands of twigs that and are covered with sparse amounts of giant, perforated, leaves with jagged edges. The leaves themselves are generally yellow, resilient and waxy.

In late summer it produces hundreds of small, amber blossoms with 7 triangular shaped petals. They are hardy and have a faint scent that smells like a damp log.

In late winter tiny cuboid fruits ripen. The clammy blood red skin is delicate and savoury, and the soft cyan flesh is bitter and savoury and oily. The orange seed is very large and sits at the end of the fruit.