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A slowly accumulating, descriptive repository of plants growing in the Bay of Islands by Robin Booth
www.sub-tropicals.co.nz
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Davidson's Plum, an Australian Delight
Young, maturing new growth |
With a fruit up to 5 cms long, a deep burgundy to nearly black when ripe and looking like a plum Davidsonia jerseyana (was called D. pruriens var jerseyana) or Davidson's Plum is a native "tucker" food from the rainforest areas of north-east New South Wales.
Called Ooray by the original inhabitants who relished it, it was widely used as a jam fruit by the first European settlers and today it is having a resurgence of interest as a commercial crop for jams and a very good, full-flavoured, dry, red wine. |
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The ripe fruit have a blue powder over them
rather like Damson plums
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The small to medium sized tree is very ornamental with its compound, distinctly hairy, crinkly leaves which can grow to a metre long. One of my sources say that some people can be irritated by these hairs though I haven't noticed it. When a new growth flush occurs it is bright pink to red which gradually fades to a deep green. Davidson's Plum has the advantage of being able to be grown in sun or shade as long as the drainage is reasonable. Water is appreciated during dry times though I have found it has grown quite happily here without extra water. |
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The brilliantly coloured
new growth
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Green fruit gowing off the trunk
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The tree is cauliferous i.e. the flowers arise from the trunks of the tree much like our native Kohekohe. The small self-fertile flowers appear in the spring being in clusters on stems up to 20cm long. My best stem has set about sixteen fruit so they are quite productive. Mine are ripening now. I had my first fruits last year and I tried them raw. They were much too sour for me so I stewed them and they were the best stewed fruit I have tasted.
Picture: The ripening fruit. |
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Buddah's Hand Citrus
No, it is not a real hand but a Citrus species from China (Citrus medica var sarcodactylis) which looks very much like a 30cm long, orange hand with many fingers. When fully developed the fruit is a real crowd stopper as it looks like nothing else. |
The fruit has been grown for many hundreds of years in the East but they have not long been released for New Zealanders to grow. The plant makes a good tub plant as it is not a big grower and this means that it can be moved around if the weather gets too cold for it, as it is a more tropical species. In the ground it must have a free draining soil in full sun and preferably no frost although mine has had light frost on it and has suffered no damage.
The flowers, which are white, have a delicious scent as do the ripe fruit and they make a good air freshener when in a room or clothes cupboard. The ripe fruit can be made into marmalade or candied. It seems that in the early 1900s many tonnes of fruit were exported from China to USA to be candied for the candied peel market. From what I have read fruit can be carried on the tree all the year round. Mine is coming into flower again now so I guess it must be true. The fruit has no seeds or juice so it is not used as a fresh fruit.
The leaves are also very aromatic and can be used in the same way as Kaffir Lime leaves are used in Asian cooking.
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This young fruit of Citrus medica from China can grow up to 30cm long. |
'Fingers' can be clenched or open |
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The Worsleya
A beautiful sight as the head
opens up. |
A great deal of excitement in the gardens here when a large bulb which I have had since about 1987 decides it is time to flower again. The bulb is called Worsleya rayneri (Blue Amaryllis) and is named after Arthington Worsley, (1861-1943) a mining engineer who travelled extensively in South America, and became a specialist in bulbous plants on his retirement to Middlesex.
Worsley wrote in 1929 about these bulbs "growing on ledges with little foothold but the heavy storms often fling hundreds of great bulbs down the precipices. |
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To me the pick of the bulbs.
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But they obtain some support from a species of twining Philodendron which intertwines itself among the bulbs and forms a kind of rope." The bulb and false stem is large and can be up to a metre or more long, with sickle- shaped, pendant leaves which in a mature plant can also be up to a metre long. The interesting bulb though is surpassed by the large Amaryllis-like flowers which are not blue but lavender to heliotrope paling towards their base to almost white and bespeckled with mauve spots the colour varying between individuals. Our plant had eight flowers in the lighter range but on a mature plant up to fourteen flowers can unfold. |
It is best if flowers are cross pollinated to get good seed set, but as I could get no fresh pollen I had to use some I saved in the deep freeze from the last flowering two years ago. Three of the seven pods have set so hopefully in another twelve to thirteen years time I will have some more plants coming into flower!!!!!!
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