A multi-stemmed upright deciduous
shrub to 4 m high from temperate
Himalayan regions. The stems are
smooth, round, hollow and bamboo-like.
Also known as Elisha's Tears, it is fastgrowing
and vigorous. Leaves are large,
soft, heart-shaped at the base and taper
to a pointed apex. The new growth is
red. The white tubular flowers in summer
and autumn grow in long drooping
lantern-like spikes, partly concealed by
deep reddish-purple bracts. These bracts,
which resemble leaves, are found at the
base of the flowers. The fruit is a round
purplish-black fleshy berry containing
more than 100 small seeds.
Introduced by birds deep into fragile and
sensitive moist bushland.