Nitraria ballardierei

A low-spreading and tangled shrub with narrow dark green succulent-like leaves, delicate white flowers and copious quantities of yellow, red to deep purple fruit. The fruits are popular with emus and other birds, and are eaten straight from the bush by Aboriginal peoples. Early settlers burnt the bush to produce potassium nitrate, used as fertiliser and as a preservative. Grows to 1.5 metres tall and 5 metres wide and makes an excellent ‘pioneer plant’ in regeneration of degraded land, tolerating extremely poor, saline and clay-heavy soils.