Westringia fruticosa (Willd.) Druce

Coastal Rosemary

Shrub to about 1.5 m tall. Leaves mostly in whorls of 4, rarely 3 or 5, blade lanceolate, 1-3 cm long, 3-5 mm wide, margins entire and curled under, hairy below. Flowers with calyx white-hairy. Corolla 1-1.5 cm long, white, spotted with brown or purple; year round.

NSW, Lord Howe Island

A salt-tolerant plant useful for coastal planting; it is believed to hybridise with W. glabra.

Source: Lumley, P. (2002). Thymus. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 4. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 3. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.

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Distribution map

Westringia fruticosa 'Morning Light'

Smaller and more compact than the species and with leaf edges that have a cream band.

Introduced c. 1980.

Other cultivars include W. 'Nana', W. 'Smokie' and W. 'Variegata'.

kingdom Plantae
phylum   Tracheophyta
class    Magnoliopsida
superorder     Asteranae
order      Lamiales
family       Lamiaceae
genus        Westringia Sm.