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Canthium lucidum

Hook. & Arn.

Rubiaceae Edible: Fruit

iNaturalist· cc-by-nc-sa

(c) Marco Schmidt, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA)

iNaturalist· cc-by-nc-sa

(c) Marco Schmidt, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA)

iNaturalist· cc-by-nc

(c) lee-anne2001, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Description

A spreading shrub or small tree. It grows 2-10 m high. It generally has several stems. The leaves are slightly leathery. They are opposite and smooth. They are narrow or oval. The blade is 8-14 cm long by 2-7 cm wide. The leaf is paler underneath. The flowers are white but turn yellow with age. They have 5-6 petals arranged like a star. The flowers are about 1 cm across and in groups of 4-6. The fruit is smooth and 2 lobed. It is about 1.5 cm across. It is red when ripe and contains 2 seeds. The fruit are edible.

Edible Uses

The ripe fruit are edible.

Distribution

It grows beside freshwater streams. It is often in monsoon forest.

Where It Grows

Australia*,

Cultivation

Plants are grown from fresh seed.

Notes

There are about 200 Canthium species. Canthium lucidum Hook. & Arn. is a synonym of Psydrax odorata subsp. odorata while Canthium lucidum Br. is a ;legitimate name.

Synonyms

Now Canthium odoratumor possibly Canthium schultzii

References (3)

  • Brock,J., 1993, Native Plants of Northern Australia, Reed. p 113
  • Lazarides, M. & Hince, B., 1993, Handbook of Economic Plants of Australia, CSIRO. p 46
  • www.theplantlist.org

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