Illawarra Plum

Plant Description

Botanical name: Podocarpus elatus.
Common Names: Brown Pine, Illawarra Plum.

Illawarra Plum forms a straight, narrow, small tree. It grows naturally in rainforest areas of NSW and Queensland. There are many good exmples in the Rockhampton Botanical Gardens, South Rockhampton. The leaves are shiny and stiff. The seed forms on the end of a purplish black, fleshy, plum like stalk.

Usage

The fleshy stalk is edible, but not especially palatable raw, being very mucilaginous. However it is used extensively in the Bush Food Industry as a flavouring, in making sauces and jams. Most of the product is wild harvested.

. Illawarra Plum image