Flacourtia territorialis
Airy-Shaw
(c) Roland Muench, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Roland Muench
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit
The ripe fruit are eaten.
Where to Find It
A tropical plant. It grows in tropical monsoonal rainforests. They will grow on most soil types.
Australia*,
How to Identify
A climbing shrub. It grows 3-5 m high and spreads 1-3 m wide. It is prickly. The branches are supported by hooks. Plants loose their leaves during the dry season. The leaves are 1.5-3 cm long by 1-2 cm wide. They are oval and thin textured. The tip can be blunt or notched. The flowers are of one sex. They are about 4 mm across. Male flowers have about 30 stamens and female flowers are fleshy. The fruit is fleshy with a hard stone inside. It is 1.2 cm across. It is rounded and ribbed.
How to Grow
Plants can be grwon from fresh seed.
Notes
A food plant of the Leopard butterfly. There are about 17 Flacourtia species. Also put in the Flacourtiaceae family.
References (5)
- Elliot, W.R., & Jones, D.L., 1992, Encyclopedia of Australian Plants suitable for cultivation. Vol 4. Lothian. p 299
- Flora of Australia, Volume 8, Lecythidales to Batales, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra (1982) p 73
- Jones D, L, 1986, Ornamental Rainforest Plants in Australia, Reed Books, p 340
- Smith, N. M., 1991, Ethnobotanical Field Notes from the Northern Territory, Australia, J. Adelaide Bot. Gard. 14(1): 1-65
- Townsend, K., 1994, Across the Top. Gardening with Australian Plants in the tropics. Society for Growing Australian Plants, Townsville Branch Inc. p 216
