In the not so distant past inland Australia once shimmered in the scorching midday sun. Vast tracts of land were covered with a sea of grey-green foliage from the many types of saltbush plants. Saltbush derives its name from the salt that the plant retains in its leaves. Much of that land is now cleared for agricultural and horticulture including vineyards.

The beauty of saltbush is that the plant is incredibly salt tolerant. They live for years and survive through all seasons throughout the year and it doesn't matter whether you get 50 points of rain in January or July, they will thrive.

Herds of wild herbivores would move into a stand of saltbush and defoliate the plants as they consumed the leaves, then they moved on. In more recent times saltbush sustained the herds of introduced cattle and sheep in particular. The sheep has become an Australian icon and indeed the country, for a time, rode on the sheep’s back. Images spring to mind of Australia’s historic pastoral characters such as “Saltbush Bill” come into mind and the legend of Sir Sydney Kidman.