Buchanania arborescens

Buchanania arborescens, commonly known as little gooseberry tree or sparrow's mango, is a small and slender tree native to seasonal tropical forests of northern Australia, south-east Asia, and the Solomon Islands.

Buchanania arborescens
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Anacardiaceae
Genus: Buchanania
Species:
B. arborescens
Binomial name
Buchanania arborescens
(Blume) Blume[1]
Synonyms

The leaves are spirally arranged, smooth, leathery, elongated oblong, 5–26 cm long. The flowers are very small cream to yellowish white. The edible fruit are globular, small (1 cm long), reddish to purple-black. These are eaten by Torresian imperial pigeons and other birds.[2]

The species was formally described in 1826 by botanist Carl Ludwig Blume based on plant specimens collected from Java. Initially naming it Coniogeton arborescens, Blume transferred the species to the genus Buchanania in 1850.[3]

In Australia the species occurs naturally across the northern extremities of the continent from Western Australia and across the Northern Territory to Queensland where it extends down the east coast as far south as Hinchinbrook Island.[2][4]

Uses

Aboriginal people eat the fruit raw. The plant is also used as a traditional medicine in Australia and Malaysia.[5] The 1889 book 'The Useful Native Plants of Australia' records that "The unripe fruits of this plant were gathered, and, when boiled, imparted an agreeable acidity to the water, and when thus prepared, tasted tolerably well. When ripe, they become sweet and pulpy, like gooseberries, although their rind is not very thick. This resemblance induced us to call the tree 'the little gooseberry'tree" quoted from Leichhardt: Overland journey to Port Essington, p. 479.[6]

References
  1. "Buchanania arborescens (Blume) Blume". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  2. Hyland, B. P. M.; Whiffin, T.; Zich, F. A.; et al. (December 2010). "Factsheet – Buchanania arborescens". Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants (6.1, online version RFK 6.1 ed.). Cairns, Australia: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), through its Division of Plant Industry; the Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research; the Australian Tropical Herbarium, James Cook University. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  3. "Buchanania arborescens (Blume) Blume". Flora of Australia Online. Department of the Environment and Heritage, Australian Government.
  4. "Buchanania arborescens (Blume) Blume". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  5. Brock, J., Top End Native Plants, 1988. ISBN 0-7316-0859-3
  6. J. H. Maiden (1889). The useful native plants of Australia : Including Tasmania. Turner and Henderson, Sydney.
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