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Myrsine howittiana

Myrsine howittiana
Photo: Melburnian, CC BY 3.0

Myrsine howittiana, brush muttonwood, is a shrub or small tree from eastern Australia, growing 3 to 10 m tall with smooth, often whitish bark. It is rarely grown as a garden plant, and it suits shade-tolerant, moist, well-drained conditions in subtropical or temperate gardens.

Family
Primulaceae (Primul family)
Grows as
Tree, Shrub
Light
Part shade, Bright indirect
Water
Keep the soil evenly moist while establishing, then water during dry spells.
Soil
Well-drained, moist, slightly acidic loam or rainforest-type soil.
Temperature
10–30 °C; protect from frost.
How easy
Moderate
Native range
SE. Queensland to Victoria
Climate
subtropical

About

Myrsine howittiana, the brush muttonwood or muttonwood, is a shrub or small tree in the family Primulaceae. The species is endemic to eastern Australia.

It grows to between 3 and 10 metres in height and has smooth, often whitish, bark. The buds of new growth are covered with rusty-coloured hairs. The leaves are obovate to elliptic in shape and between 4 and 13 cm long and 2 to 4 cm wide. These are shiny with wavy edges and a duller undersurface and have petioles that are 7 to 14 mm in length. Greenish-white to cream flowers are produced in spring and summer. These are followed by blue or mauve fruits which are 5 to 7 mm in diameter and ripen between December and June.

Other Myrsine plants

Myrsine adamsonii · African Boxwood · Myrsine andersonii · Mapou · Myrsine brownii · Myrsine bullata · Myrsine ceylanica · Cook Islands Myrsine · Myrsine collina · Leathery colicwood · Summit colicwood · Myrsine diazii

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Myrsine howittiana by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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