Silverbrush

This short shrub grows up to 1 foot (30.5 cm) tall and lives for around 58 years. It is very susceptible to disease and insect infestation.

It has many slender, crooked stems covered in thin, rough, silver and white bark, and the wood inside is pale brown.

The branches are short, rigid and upright with thousands of twigs that and are covered with large amounts of small, needle-like, leaves with toothed edges. The leaves themselves are either red, or cyan with florescent orange streaks, resilient and smooth.

In early spring it produces thousands of small, azure blossoms with flame-shaped shaped petals. They are sturdy and have a powerful scent that smells like cigarette smoke.

In midwinter tiny oval fruits ripen. The smooth cyan skin is tough and sweet, and the soft cyan flesh is salty and sour and sticky. The crimson seed is small and is in the centre of the fruit.