It was raining money today. The purses were open, and the coins were flowing, all over me and through my hair. The seed from The Tasmanian Christmas Bush, look like small coins, lovingly tucked into bronze coloured, purse shaped capsules. When I hear the seeds rattling away in the wind, the seed is ready to harvest, the purse strings are off, and the coins are flowing.

However, with every good bank, there is a security system to get through, before you can steal the loot. With the Christmas Bush , it's the spines that make a robbery difficult. There never seems the perfect way to collect the seed, avoid the thorns, without getting seed all over myself in the process. As soon as the upright, heart shaped purses are tipped, the money flows. Collecting seed from the Tasmanian Christmas Bush, is a messy business.

The Tasmanian Christmas Bush, or Prickly Box, has the perfect Latin Name, defining the features I was negotiating today. It has the botanical name of Bursaria spinosa. Bursaria is from the Latin word bursa or purse, and spinosa, referring to its sharp spines.

So why bother with such an unfriendly plant?

The Tasmanian Christmas Bush is covered with masses of sweet scented, beautiful white flowers at Christmas. The flowers hum with bees, and the honey is highly prized for its distinctive fragrant flavour. The nectar is also desired by the Shouldered Brown and the Bright Copper Butterflies. The prickles are also important. They provide a safe haven for small birds, from predators such as cats....and me. The leaves also contain a secondary compound called aesculin, which was used as an ingredient in sunscreen, in the 1940's.

To add to the The Tasmanian Christmas Bush's curriculum vitae, is toughness. This small tree grows in very inhospitable sites, from the steep, rocky, dry hillsides in the Midlands, to coastal areas with salt spray. Once established, it's extremely resilient, and can be trimmed to make a hedge. Politely called a deterrent barrier. This plant has a wealth of talent on offer and a worthy addition to your garden.

Saying goodbye to family and friends is always hard, in whatever way they leave our lives. My way to cope is to plant something in their memory, a tradition I learnt as a child. After World War 2, the Tasmania people planted an avenue of trees from Launceston to Hobart along the Midlands Highway, to overcome their conflicting emotions, loss of loved ones,  while also celebrating the return of loved ones.

I also have conflicting emotions with the widening of the Midlands Highway. Yes, we can celebrate a highway that will be safer and easier to travel, and grieve the loss of memorial trees, who have lost their lives in this action. But its even harder saying goodbye to many of my native plant friends growing along the roadside verges, from ground covers to trees. These plants have stood witness to my journeys and brought me so much joy as I watch out for their flowering throughout the year.

Roadside verges are linear strips of what once grew in the area. They are important reminders of the past. Although these strips seem insignificant, they are important linear reserves for our native plants, and for future generations to know what was here. There is a small reserve at Conara, wedged between the railway and the highway, a tiny almost insignificant area. But this area is significant, it is a celebration of the tail end of the once greater Epping Forest. This area contains 111 different species.

So we soldier on, celebrating the life of these  plants and the pleasure they brought and grieving their loss at the same time. In the meantime, I collect the seed, grow their offspring and plant in their memory.

A plant list for this tiny reserve can be found under Plant Lists.