''Owenia acidula'', commonly known as emu apple, is small or medium-sized tree of outback woodlands 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 may grow to ten metres tall. The

pinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...

leaves are bright green and shiny, with leaflets 2–5 cm long. Broken twigs ooze a milky sap. The edible

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

is purplish-red with paler speckles, 2–4 cm wide with a large stone-like seed.

Uses

The fruit pulp is an Aboriginal

bushfood Bush tucker, also called bush food, is any food native to Australia and used as sustenance by Indigenous Australians, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but it can also describe any native flora or fauna used for culinary or ...

and apparently causes

hallucinations A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the qualities of a real perception. Hallucinations are vivid, substantial, and are perceived to be located in external objective space. Hallucination is a combinatio ...

. The fruits ripen after falling off the tree, and have a sour flavour.

Gallery

Image: Owenia acidula 25May2020.jpg, Mature Owenia acidula tree Image: P5270023 Owenia acidula, fruit and leaves - Kumbarilla State Forest, Qld. Australia.jpg, Fruit and leaves

References

External links

* Bushfood Meliaceae Sapindales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of the Northern Territory Flora of Queensland Trees of Australia Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller {{Meliaceae-stub