Copperleaf

This modest-sized shrub grows up to 4 feet (1.2 meters) tall and lives for decades, with the oldest known specimen being around 177 years old. It is somewhat resistant to disease and destructive insect infestation.

It has many very thick, wavy stems covered in very thick, wrinkled, copper-coloured bark, and the wood inside is pale brown.

The branches are short stubs with hundreds of twigs that and are covered with handfuls of huge, 9 pointed, leaves with toothed edges. The leaves themselves are muted orange on the sides and red at the center, light and fuzzy.

In late spring it produces a thick sheet of tiny, turquoise blossoms with cylindrical shaped petals. They are hardy and have an intensely strong scent that smells like mint.

In early autumn tiny fan-like fruits ripen. The fuzzy black skin is delicate and inedible, and the soft muted orange flesh is sweet and spicy and syrupy. The orange seeds are tiny and are bunched at the bottom of the fruit.