''Nitraria billardierei'', commonly known as nitre bush or dillon bush, is a
perennial
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...
shrub native to
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. It is often found in
saline areas or other areas which have been disturbed. This species produces flowers predominantly in spring, with small ovoid or oblong fruit (
drupe
In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...
) that are purple, red or golden. The fruit are edible, said to taste like salty grapes. They were eaten, sometimes whole, including the stone, by
indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
such as the
Wemba-Wemba
The Wemba-Wemba are an Aboriginal Australian people in north-Western Victoria and south-western New South Wales, Australia, including in the Mallee and the Riverina regions. They are also known as the Wamba-Wamba.
Language
Wemba-Wemba bears st ...
. Fruit can also be made into
jam
Jam is a type of fruit preserve.
Jam or Jammed may also refer to:
Other common meanings
* A firearm malfunction
* Block signals
** Radio jamming
** Radar jamming and deception
** Mobile phone jammer
** Echolocation jamming
Arts and ente ...
or dried and stored.
It is a broad and low shrub, up to high and 4 m wide.
Nitre bush is found across all mainland states of Australia. The plant's spread and germination in areas of heavy clay soil is assisted by the fruit's consumption by
emu
The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus ''Dromaius''. The emu' ...
s.
References
External links
*
Sapindales of Australia
Nitrariaceae
Flora of New South Wales
Flora of the Northern Territory
Flora of South Australia
Flora of Victoria (Australia)
Rosids of Western Australia
Halophytes
{{Sapindales-stub