Blueleaf Saltbush

This small shrub grows up to 1 foot (30.5 cm) tall and lives for around 95 years. It is not very resistant to disease and destructive insect infestation.

It has numerous wide, straight stems covered in thick, ridged, brown-green speckled bark, and the wood inside is brown.

The branches trail down towards the ground that and are covered with small bunches of giant, wide, leaves with smooth edges. The leaves themselves are found in sky blue, green and bronze varieties, frail and leathery.

In late spring it produces copious amounts of giant, deep blue blossoms with cylindrical petals. They are hardy and have an intensely strong scent that smells like freshly washed clothes.

In late winter tiny broad, flat fruits ripen. The clammy turquoise skin is tough and inedible, and the very soft olive flesh is salty and syrupy. The orange seed is tiny and is in the centre of the fruit.