Family: Violaceae

Origin: SE Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand.

An unusual, woody member of the violet family which grows here as a shrub up to 3 m tall. Its narrow leaves have an occasionally toothed edge and a thick cuticle; they are up to 3 x 1 cm, mid-green and glossy above and lighter green and warty beneath. The older bark is marked with silvery ridges, and on the younger twigs has a fine silvery down.

Tiny yellowish-cream flowers, the petals tipped with dull purple, are borne in profusion on the branchlets, followed by off-white berries flecked with purple. Can occur with male and female flowers on separate plants, or on the same plant.

Introduced in 1820.

Both genus names refer to minute parts of the flower. The specific epithet angustifolia means narrow-leaved.