Samuel Gilbert
Bush Tucker of the Month:

Exocarpus cupressiformis
Common names: Native Cherry, Cherry Ballart, Wild Cherry, Forest Cherry

Exocarpus cupressiformis

Description: A small evergreen tree which grows to eight metres. Its rough grey branches hang down and its bark is dark brown. Instead of true leaves, it has tiny yellow-green scales. In spring and summer, tiny creamy-yellow flowers appear on stalks along the ends of branches. The flower stalks swell and become red and juicy. The real fruit on the end of each stalk are hard and green.

Habitat: This tree is often seen in woodlands, open forests and heaths in rocky or infertile, sandy positions. It has been suggested that it may use eucalypts as a host plant.

Adaptation: The pale golden-green scales can survive in dry weather because they are small and don’t wilt. They also droop away from the sun’s rays. New trees can grow from suckers. It is partly parasitic, growing on the roots of another plant, while young.

Use: The flesh and skin of the stalks were part of the diet of Aboriginal people. Colonials called them the ‘cherry with the stone on the outside’. Wood from the tree was used for woomeras. The sap was reported to be a remedy for snake-bite. The timber has been used for furniture and wood turning, due to its fine grain.

Fauna Use: Many native birds eat the fruit, eg Eastern Rosellas, Satin Bowerbirds, Scrubwrens, Grey Butcherbirds, Mistletoe Birds, Wonga Pigeons, Silvereyes, Cuckoo-Shrikes and Singing Honeyeaters.

Note: This fruit was first mentioned as edible in “The History of New South Wales” in 1801.

Photo: Murray Fagg, ANBG, Canberra.