Ricinocarpos pinifolius

(Wedding Bush)

Ricinocarpos pinifolius (Wedding Bush) provides much of the white colour. There are 15 species of Ricinocarpos, so named because of the similarity of their fruit to the unrelated Ricinus (Castor Oil Plant) species.

R. pinifolius is the most wide spread of the Ricinocarpos species, named due to the similarity of its foliage to the pinus genus of plants (pine trees). It only grows as a small to medium shrub to about 1.5 metres. It produces pure white unisexual flowers, one female flower for every three to six similar looking male flowers, all on the one plant.

The flowers are followed by the fruit, which is a rough, globular capsule which splits when ripe to release 5 shiny seeds.

(Source - Bushland News 2013 Winter edition)