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Fact Sheet: Fruits of the Rainforest

Clarence Slockee profiles rainforest fruits at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney, NSW

Presenter: Clarence Slockee, 22/05/2010

SERIES 21 Episode

Rainforests play a vital role in sustaining the environment. They stabilise the climate, protect the soil from erosion, filter water and, importantly for people, they provide oxygen. Clarence is exploring the rainforest walk at Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens which is the traditional home of the Cadigal. He pays respects to the Dharug and Eora Nations and also says 'yalladah' or g'day to the Kuku Yalanji, one of the local mobs from around the Daintree in far north Queensland.

Lemon Aspen
Clarence is profiling the Lemon Aspen tree (Acronychia acidula) which is endemic to the Daintree region and, although it's from far north Queensland, it will grow as far south as Sydney, along the coast. It's a member of the citrus family and has small edible fruit, which, like most rainforest species, fall to the ground when ripe. The ripest fruits are paler in colour and, according to Clarence, they taste like a cross between a lime and a grapefruit. "Lemon Aspen is now used in sauces, chutneys and relishes; it's even used as flavouring for mineral water. It's taken the rest of the world a bit of time to catch on to the benefits of a plant that Aboriginal people have been using for thousands of years."

Davidson Plum
Many rainforest plants, in particular the Davidson Plum tree, grow very tall and straight to the sunlight. Even the branches of this tree grow very straight, making them ideal for local rainforest mobs to make spears from. Clarence says, "This is one of my favourite rainforest plants because of the fruit."

The Davidson Plum is an interesting fruit because it grows directly from the trunk of the tree. This is known as cauliflory. The fruit is covered in tiny hairs giving it a blue appearance, but when they're rubbed off the plum then looks black. The flesh is blood-red and the taste. Clarence thinks is a bit sour but delicious.

Lawyer Vine
Trying to get to the small, sweet fruit of the Lawyer Vine can be challenging. The entire plant is covered in hook-like barbs and, "like any good lawyer," Clarence says, "once they get their hooks into you, they won't let go!" For this reason, Clarence recommends leaving Lawyer Vine in the rainforest.

The Kuku Yalanji people of the Daintree had plenty of uses for this vine; everything from eating the fruit, to making fish traps and even using the stems for looping around trees to aid in climbing.

Lawyer Vine can grow up to about 100 metres long and many aboriginal people refer to it as 'Wait-a-while' because, if you find yourself stuck to it, you really do have to wait a while!

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