Billy Goat plum, Kakadu plum
Terminalia ferdinandiana
Family: Combretaceae
What it is like
A small to medium sized tree. It grows 4-10 m tall. It is a spreading tree (3 m) with a rounded crown. It looses its leaves during the year. The bark is creamy grey and rough. It has a checkered pattern and is somewhat flaky. The leaves occur in spirals. They are crowded near the ends of small branches. The leaves are large and smooth. They are somewhat leathery and oval to round. They can be 5-25 cm long and 5-20 cm across. They are light green and the veins show up distinctly. The leaf stalk is 2-10 cm long. The leaf stalk and main vein are yellowish-green. The leaves turn to yellow before falling. The flowers are cream, have 5 petals and have a strong nectar smell. They are 0.5 cm across and occur on spikes. The spikes can be 10-20 cm long. They develop in the axils of leaves towards the ends of small branches. The fruit is smooth and fleshy. It is oval and 1.5-2.5 cm long by 1-2 cm across. They have a short beak. They are yellowish-green when ripe. The young fruit are ribbed. (The fruit look like an immature olive). The fruit are edible. They have a single seed in a woody shell. The seed is edible.
Fruit have very high Vitamin C. It can be 2-3,000 mg per 100 g of edible portion. This is 50 times citrus. There are about 200-250 Terminalia species. They are tropical.
Where it is found
It is a tropical plant. It occurs as an understorey tree in open forest in northern Australia. It prefers light sandy soil. The soil should be well drained. It suits an open sunny position. It is drought resistant. It is damaged by frost, being very frost sensitive. It suits seasonally dry tropical areas.
Countries/locations it is found in
Australia (country/location of origin)
How it is used for food
The fruit are eaten raw. The fruit can be cooked and used for jams and chutneys. The gum is eaten. The seed is edible.
This fruit is highly sought after. It has high Vitamin C value.
Edible parts
Fruit, nuts, gum
How it is grown
It can be grown from fresh seed. Germination can take 6-12 weeks. It requires warm moist conditions. It is best to make a small cut in the seed to improve germination. It can re-grow from burnt stumps producing a low shrub that had been named Terminalia prostrata.
In Australia flowering occurs September to November and fruiting from March to July. The fruiting is related to rainfall and tends to be at the end of the wet season. A tree can yield 50 kg of fruit in a good season. Fruit will keep one week after harvest. They can be stored frozen. Fruit are generally collected from the ground but are easy to pick occurring in bunches near the ends of branches.
Its other names
Local names
Gabindji, Gabing, Gobin, Gubinge, Kabing, Mador, Manmohpan, Mardangich, Menangbere, Menthem, Murunga, Nanka-bakarra, Pirlamunga, Wardabidji, Wild plum