Ricinocarpos bowmanii

A shrub to 1.5 m high by up to 3 metres wide.  

It grows many on the western slopes of NSW, with some records on the southern tablelands and the far western plains; south from around Yarrangobilly Caves in Kosciuszko National Park, north through Tumut and then occurring sporadically around Cowra and Orange and west to north-west of Lake Cargelligo. It is very common around Dubbo and north of here into the Pilliga Scrub, between Coonabarabran and Narrabri. It extends north through Warialda and Moree, to over the Queensland border. Records in Queensland are few and sporadic, extending to Eidsvold, north of Injune and south of Charleville.  

It typically grows in dry sclerophyll woodland as well as mallee-scrub on rocky ridges and upper slopes, often on sandy soils. 

Ricinocarpos spp. have simple and usually alternate leaves with entire margins. In this species, they are narrow and olive-green, to 40 mm long and only 3 mm wide, with recurved margins and with the lower surface paler with dense short hairs.  

Ricinocarpos spp. are monoecious – a condition where separate female and male flowers are produced on any individual plant. Flowers are produced in terminal to axillary racemes, or solitarily, and are white in colour, with 4 to 6 petals and sepals. In this species, the flowers have 5 spreading petals and are unisexual; male flowers are produced in terminal clusters of 3 to 6 whilst the female flowers are borne alone or within the male clusters, with each flower about 20 mm across; pink to white in colour; occurring in winter to early summer

The fruit is a globular capsule, to 10 mm long, densely hairy with stellate hairs, which splits open when ripe to release 3 mottled seeds.