Blue quandong

A large rainforerst tree with a straight and cylindrical trunk, with pale grey bark. Buttress roots are present even on smaller trees, becoming large and elaborate on older trees. The crown is sparse and open with the leaves clustered towards the ends of the twigs and creamy white flowers and spherical bright blue edible* fruit. The species is well regarded for its timber and as a key part in regenerating rainforest.

• The fruit is eaten by a variety of birds and animals. Also Indigenous Australians ate the fallen fruit raw or, alternatively, squashed the flesh to form an edible paste. The fruit pulp is sour and slightly bitter. Each raw green fruit was picked and buried in sand for four days. By this time it had softened and turned blue, sweet and more palatable for eating. And during the colonial period in Australia the fruit was also used for jams and pies plus it was suitable for pickling. 1