[SOLVED - Yes] Found this fruit. Is it edible?

Berkeloid

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Jul 9, 2016
Messages
96
Location
Brisbane, QLD
Climate
Sub-Tropical
EDIT: This is the fruit from a Leichhardt Tree, edible but very bitter. See below for the original question and subsequent discussion.

Hi all,

I found a couple of trees on the way home today that were dropping an unusual looking fruit on the ground. I picked up a couple but I'm having no luck trying to identify them online.

Does anyone know what the name of the fruit/tree is, and whether they are edible?

They smell quite a lot like gum nuts and one has started rotting and has a whiff of banana so I'm quite intrigued!

Any ideas? The one in these photos is about the size of a large kiwi fruit.

fruit1.jpg
fruit2.jpg
 
Last edited:

Mark

Founder
Staff member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
May 27, 2012
Messages
5,192
Location
Bellmere, QLD
Website
www.selfsufficientme.com
Climate
Sub-Tropical
Is it a soursop?

The only reason I ask is I purchased a soursop tree from the local nursery yesterday and the fruit looks simular...
 

Berkeloid

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Jul 9, 2016
Messages
96
Location
Brisbane, QLD
Climate
Sub-Tropical
Thanks Mark - the only images I can find of a soursop look like spiky custard apples. These don't have any spikes and don't seem to have any large seeds in them at all either - what you see in the photo where it's cut in half is how it looks all the way through.
 

ClissAT

Valued Member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Sep 27, 2015
Messages
1,842
Location
Pomona, Qld
Climate
Sub-Tropical
I googled it too but only got a page full of similarly coloured foods.
Not very helpful!

If you could get some leaves & maybe a photo of the whole tree we might be able to identify it better.

It's not soursop...they are one of my favs & they have a very sharp smell.
Funny how the skin has all those bract looking scales all over it.
Obviously those marks in the flesh are seeds so perhaps it's some sort of fig.
 

Berkeloid

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Jul 9, 2016
Messages
96
Location
Brisbane, QLD
Climate
Sub-Tropical
Haha I also looked through pages of Google images but couldn't find a single result! Thanks for investigating.

It does have some similarities with a fig, so that could be a possibility. Unfortunately it was night time so I couldn't get a decent photo, and now with everything closing due to the weather it'll probably be a few days before I can get a decent photo.

Here's the one I took on the night - sorry it isn't very helpful. The fruits were growing on the branches in amongst the leaves, and one was falling to the ground every 30 seconds or so, even though there was no breeze.

The ground was covered in these fruits so if they are edible the trees seem quite prolific and well suited to the local SE QLD climate.

leaf.jpg
 

ClissAT

Valued Member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Sep 27, 2015
Messages
1,842
Location
Pomona, Qld
Climate
Sub-Tropical
Ahhh! now that I see the trunk & a few leaves I think it is a Northern Qld rain forest tree & the fruit will not be human edible but probably bats, birds etc will feast on them.
If it is planted in a public place like a road verge or a park situation, the fruit must not be too poisonous to humans otherwise the council would not plant it.
But a private person might if it is in their garden & hanging over the fence.
 

Berkeloid

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Jul 9, 2016
Messages
96
Location
Brisbane, QLD
Climate
Sub-Tropical
Oh wow after your comment I tried a Google image search for "yellow brown north queensland rainforest fruit" and about three pages down I found it!

It's a Nauclea orientalis, also known as the Leichhardt Tree. Talk about coincidence - last night I watched the first episode of the Bush Tucker Man and at 25:42 he discusses this very tree!

He says the fruits taste bitter and sure enough the other sources also say the fruit are edible. I'll defintely have to try picking some more up next time to try them out!
 

Mark

Founder
Staff member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
May 27, 2012
Messages
5,192
Location
Bellmere, QLD
Website
www.selfsufficientme.com
Climate
Sub-Tropical

Berkeloid

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Jul 9, 2016
Messages
96
Location
Brisbane, QLD
Climate
Sub-Tropical
I imagine you would have!

I'm really surprised how interesting the Bush Tucker Man episodes are. I had mostly forgotten them all, but there are so many native fruits that we never see and are suited to our climate, it makes me think we need to get more of these into our gardens! I didn't even know there was such a thing as a native grape!
 

Mark

Founder
Staff member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
May 27, 2012
Messages
5,192
Location
Bellmere, QLD
Website
www.selfsufficientme.com
Climate
Sub-Tropical
Yes exactly.

I've been experimenting with different and obscure fruit and veg for years now trying to find food plants that can be grown in my climate providing produce all year round. Bush tucker is a great place to investigate.
 

Isa

Member
Premium Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2019
Messages
4
Climate
Temperate (all seasons)
I googled it too but only got a page full of similarly coloured foods.
Not very helpful!

If you could get some leaves & maybe a photo of the whole tree we might be able to identify it better.

It's not soursop...they are one of my favs & they have a very sharp smell.
Funny how the skin has all those bract looking scales all over it.
Obviously those marks in the flesh are seeds so perhaps it's some sort of fig.
This is NOT soursop
 

Isa

Member
Premium Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2019
Messages
4
Climate
Temperate (all seasons)
Is it a soursop?

The only reason I ask is I purchased a soursop tree from the local nursery yesterday and the fruit looks simular...

Not soursop
 
Top Bottom