| DESCRIPTION: Tree with upright straight trunk; bark dark grey or grey-brown, finely furrowed; leaves grey-green, narrow, slightly curved, borne mainly on the topmost branches; flowers yellow, in spikes. USE: The leaves are eaten fairly readily, though local differences in palatability are reported. The trunks are not suitable for fence posts but make excellent rails when used out of the ground. GROWING PERIOD: Perennial. COMMON NAMES: Lancewood. FURTHER INF: Found on skeletal sandy soils on flat ridge tops at an elevation of 200-1000 m. Grows in dense scrubs on rather stony soils (such as the flat tops of mesas) in the 375- to 625-mm rainfall belt. |