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Harmless🍽️ Edible

🍇 Davidson's plum

Davidsonia jerseyana · Cunoniaceae

🦘 Australia
🧠 To remember it"The plum that grows on the trunk" — unlike almost any other fruit, Davidson's plum emerges directly on the trunk rather than at the end of branches.
Davidson's plum — Davidsonia jerseyana

🔍 Identify it without mistakes

Small, slender tree about 5 m high in the understory of subtropical rainforests, with large pinnately compound leaves. The fruits, borne directly on the trunk and branches (cauliflory), are oval purplish drupes with deep burgundy red flesh that is extremely tart. The species is currently endangered in the wild but widely cultivated.

  1. small slender tree (~5 m) with large pinnately compound leaves
  2. purplish fruits borne in clusters directly on the trunk and thick branches (cauliflory)
  3. deep burgundy red inner flesh, extremely tart
  4. fruit skin finely downy to the touch
Sizeabout 5 m
Floweringfruiting mainly during the austral summer-autumn
Habitatunderstory of lowland rainforests in northeastern New South Wales; endangered in the wild, widely cultivated in small commercial plantations

⚠️ Not to be confused with

Small-leaved lilly pilly (Syzygium luehmannii)aucun (comestible aussi)

To tell them apart: the Davidson's plum grows via cauliflory directly on the trunk and branches, featuring very tart burgundy red flesh under a downy purplish skin, whereas the lilly pilly produces bright red pear-shaped fruits borne on thin stalks at the tips of twigs

🍽️ Eating it

Partsripe fruits
Seasonaustral summer-autumn
Tastevery sharp, with a pronounced tart note

Preparation : too sour to eat raw in quantity; processed into jam, wine, ice cream, and sauces, with added sugar to offset the acidity

💊 Healing with it

no major traditional medicinal uses documented in the sources consulted

Level of evidence : traditional use — Wikipedia — Davidsonia

⚠️ no known special precautions for the ripe fruit

Sources (1)

No entry replaces a certain identification in the field, or medical advice. When in doubt: don't eat it. If ingestion is suspected: poison control or 112/911.