Wild peach, Billy Goat Plum
Terminalia carpentariae
Family: Combretaceae
What it is like
A small to medium sized spreading tree. It loses its leaves during the year. It grows to 5-15 m tall. It has a rounded crown. The small branches are densely hairy. They bark can be smooth or rough and has fine splits along it. The leaves are arranged in spirals. They are crowded towards the ends of small branches. The leaves have many hairs on both sides. They are almost round and 5-12 cm long by 3.5-10 cm wide. They are a dull grey green. The veins are easy to see. The leaf stalk is hairy and 2-4.5 cm long. The leaves turn reddish brown before falling. The flowers are small and green. They occur on densely hairy spikes which are 4-10 cm long. They occur in the axils of leaves towards the end of small branches. The fruit is oval and 1.5-3.5 cm long by 1.2-1.7 cm wide. They are densely hairy. They have a thin fleshy layer around a large seed. This thin fleshy layer is sour and edible. The fruit are yellow-green when ripe. The single seed is inside a woody shell.
The fruit is very high in Vitamin C. There are about 200-250 Terminalia species. They are tropical.
Where it is found
A tropical plant. They grow in sandstone country in northern Australia. They grow on poor stony soils in dry regions.
Countries/locations it is found in
Australia (country/location of origin)
How it is used for food
The fruit is eaten raw. The fruit have been used for jam. The gum is eaten. It is soaked if dry.
Edible parts
Fruit, gum
How it is grown
Plants can be grown from fresh seed.
Plants flower October to December and fruit August to October in Australia. The fruit usually ripen while the leaves are off the tree. This is during the dry season. The fruit are normally collected off the ground. The gum can be collected by cutting the bark with a pointed stick.
Its other names
Local names
Anmobban, Morlag