Myoporum platycarpum

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Sugarwood (Myoporum platycarpum) is a hardy Australian plant in the figwort family. It grows as a rounded shrub or small tree up to about 10 m tall, with bright green leaves when it is young and rough, dark grey bark on mature trunks.

Leaves are alternately arranged, about 3.7–7.2 cm long and 0.4–0.9 cm wide, and range from linear to elliptic. They often have small teeth along the outer half and are usually curved or hooked at the tip, with deep green surfaces.

Flowers appear in loose clusters of about 5–8 on short stalks from August to November. Each flower has five sepals and five petals fused into a short tube, with white to very pale pink or purple petals that may have orange or yellow spots. The tube is 1.9–4 mm long, and the spreading lobes are 1.6–4.8 mm long. The inside of the tube and lobes is hairy, and four stamens extend beyond the petals. Fruits follow as green and fleshy, turning dry when mature.

The species was first described by Robert Brown in 1810. There are two subspecies: platycarpum and perbellum. The name platycarpum means “flat fruit” in Greek, and perbellum means “very beautiful” in Latin. Both subspecies occur in inland New South Wales, north-western Victoria, and the southern half of South Australia; subspecies platycarpum is also found in south-eastern Western Australia and far south-eastern Queensland.

Sugarwood often grows in mallee or Belah woodland. It is a hardy plant for shade, shelter, or screening in dry climates. The wood is hard and dense, yellow with brown streaks and small black features, and it smells sweet when worked.