Owenia acidula

Owenia acidula
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Meliaceae
Genus: Owenia
Species:
O. acidula
Binomial name
Owenia acidula
Occurrence data from AVH

Owenia acidula, commonly known as emu apple, is small or medium-sized tree of outback woodlands native to Australia. It may grow to ten metres tall.[1]

The pinnate leaves are bright green and shiny, with leaflets 2–5 cm long. Broken twigs ooze a milky sap. The edible fruit is purplish-red with paler speckles, 2–4 cm wide with a large stone-like seed.

Uses

The fruit pulp is an Aboriginal bushfood and apparently causes hallucinations. The fruits ripen after falling off the tree, and have a sour flavour.[2]

  • Mature Owenia acidula tree
    Mature Owenia acidula tree
  • Fruit and leaves
    Fruit and leaves

References

  1. ^ "Owenia acidula F.Muell". PlantNet: NSW Flora Online.
  2. ^ Low, T. (1988). Wild Food Plants of Australia. ISBN 0-207-16930-6.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.