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Indigo

Shrub type: Deciduous (Stores water in its leaves)

This huge shrub grows up to 15 feet (4.6 meters) tall and lives for decades, with the oldest known specimen being around 196 years old. It is not very resistant to disease and destructive insect infestation.

It has several long and flexible, crooked stems covered in fine, knobbly, black with white speckled bark, and the wood inside is copper-coloured.

The branches are very short and slender with hundreds of twigs that and are covered with large amounts of large, thin, leaves with irregular edges. The leaves themselves are indigo at the bottom and green with silver lines at the top, tough and covered in fine hairs.

In early summer it produces many balls of medium-sized, white blossoms with spear shaped petals with a tube-like floral cup. They are sturdy and have an intense scent that smells like burning wood.

In early winter tiny asymmetrical fruits ripen. The fuzzy ashy blue skin is thin and edible when roasted; it is sweet and sour, and the soft grey flesh is bitter and sour and juicy. The intense yellow seed is small and sits at the top of the fruit.

It can survive a very long time without water.
A particular bird species likes to nest in it.
It is suitable for making paper