Finschia ferruginiflora
White
ProteaceaeSeeds/Nuts
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Stan Shebs (via Wikimedia Commons)
Stan Shebs (via Wikimedia Commons)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Nuts
Seed - cooked. The yellow, globose fruit is around 5cm in diameter containing one or more seeds 7 - 8mm in diameter.
Where to Find It
A tropical plant. They occur in rainforest between 1500 and 1800 m altitude.
Pacific, Papua New Guinea, PNG,
Countries: Australia, Fiji, Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Palau, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Samoa
How to Identify
A tree up to 30 m tall with adventitious roots up to 1.5 m above the ground. Leaves are long (25 cm) and narrow (5 cm) and without hairs. Flowers are rusty brown in long strings up to 20 cm long. Fruit are about 5 cm across. They have one seed inside. Possibly now Hakea ferruginiflora (C. T. White) Christenh. & Byng.
How to Grow
Trees grow from seed.
Propagation: Seed - it is often slow to germinate.
Other Information
In Papua New Guinea, the species has mostly been recorded in the Eastern Highlands near Aiyura and Okapa.
References (8)
- Bourke, M., 1995, Edible Indigenous Nuts in Papua New Guinea. In South Pacific Indigenous Nuts. ACIAR Proceedings No 69, Canberra. p 46
- French, B.R., 1986, Food Plants of Papua New Guinea, A Compendium. Asia Pacific Science Foundation p 178
- Menninger, E.A., 1977, Edible Nuts of the World. Horticultural Books. Florida p 21
- PROSEA (Plant Resources of South East Asia) handbook, Volume 2, 1991, Edible fruits and nut. p 167
- Sleumer, H., 1955, Proteaceae in Flora Malesiana, Ser 1 Vol 5(2) p 162
- White, C.T., 1949, Finschia - A Genus of "Nut" Trees of the Southwest Pacific. Pacific Science 3:187
- Wickens, G.E., 1995, Edible Nuts. FAO Non-wood forest products. FAO, Rome. p146
- World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew