''Santalum murrayanum'', commonly known as the bitter quandong, is an Australian plant in the sandalwood family, ''

Santalaceae The Santalaceae, sandalwoods, are a widely distributed family of flowering plants (including small trees, shrubs, perennial plants, perennial herbs, and epiphyte, epiphytic climbersHewson & George t al.'Santalaceae'' taxonomy, 1984, pp. 191-1 ...

''. The

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian people who live in the South West, Western Australia, south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton, Western Aus ...

name for the plant is coolyar. It bears a bitter fruit, from which a common name derives, in contrast to congener ''

Santalum acuminatum ''Santalum acuminatum'', the desert quandong, is a hemiparasitic plant in the sandalwood family, Santalaceae, (Native to Australia) which is widely dispersed throughout the central deserts and southern areas of Australia. The species, especiall ...

'' - sweet quandong. The plant is also known as Ming.http://www.wanatca.org.au/Q-Yearbook/Y5all.pdf West Australian Nutgrowing Society Yearbook It occurs in a hemi-

parasitic Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The ent ...

relationship with the roots of several other plants, in a non-destructive way, as with all the species of the genus ''

Santalum ''Santalum'' is a genus of woody flowering plants in the Santalaceae family, the best known and most commercially valuable of which is the Indian sandalwood tree, '' S. album''. Members of the genus are trees or shrubs. Most are root parasit ...

''. The shrub or small tree typically grows to a height of . It blooms between October and January producing white to yellow-green flowers. It is found on sandplains and dunes and has a scattered distribution through the Wheatbelt, Great Southern and Goldfields-Esperance regions of Western Australia where it grows in sandy or gravelly lateritic soils.

References

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q7420025 Bushfood Australian Aboriginal bushcraft murrayanum Eudicots of Western Australia Flora of South Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (state)