Olacaceae

15 gen., temp. to trop.

Olax L.

11 species endemic Aust.; all states and territories except Tas.

Olax stricta R.Br.

Erect, slender shrub 1–2 m high, yellowish-green, parasitic on the roots of neighbouring plants. Leaves narrow-oblong, mucronate, 5–20 mm long, distichous; stipules absent. Flowers solitary, axillary, regular, bisexual. Calyx cup-shaped, truncate, enlarged after flowering to enclose the fruit. Petals 5–6, yellowish, valvate, free or cohering, 4–6 mm long, spreading above. Functional stamens 3. Ovary superior, 1-locular. Fruit a drupe enclosed in the enlarged calyx but free from it. Widespread. Heath and DSF. Ss. Fl. most of the year