''Owenia vernicosa'', the emu apple, is a species of tree found in the north of Australia. The bark is an orange-grey colour that flakes away from the trunk. Deep red fruit appear after the flowering period, when the white, cream and green inflorescence appears in October to November. The tree occurs on alluvial sand or black and loamy clays over sandstone. The habitat may be rocky ridge lines and slopes or alongside creeks.

Uses

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 ...

pulverized the inner bark of this species and added it to small water bodies to act as a

fish toxin Fish toxins or fish stupefying plants have historically been used by many hunter gatherer cultures to stun fish, so they become easy to collect by hand. Some of these toxins paralyse fish, which can then be easily collected. The process of documen ...

, allowing fish to be easily collected from the surface of the water. Indigenous Australians boiled the inner bark of this species in water and the resulting liquid was used as an antiseptic wash for open cuts and sores.

Emus Emus may refer to: * 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 g ...

are known to consume the fruit of this species. Red-tailed black cockatoos likely consume the fruit of this species, as indicated by the meaning of indigenous language words for this species.

Sugar gliders The sugar glider (''Petaurus breviceps'') is a small, omnivorous, arboreal, and nocturnal gliding possum belonging to the marsupial infraclass. The common name refers to its predilection for sugary foods such as sap and nectar and its ability ...

are known to consume the sap of this species.

References

Meliaceae Sapindales of Australia Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller {{Australia-rosid-stub