Santalum acuminatum

Common card · No. 279697

Santalum acuminatum, the desert quandong, is an evergreen, hemiparasitic tree in the sandalwood family, Santalaceae, which is widely dispersed throughout the central deserts and southern areas of Australia. The tree's fruit, known as quandongs or native peaches, are used as bush tucker and as an exotic flavouring, which has led to attempts to domesticate the tree. The fruit can be stewed to make filling for quandong pies or made into a fruit juice drink. The kernels inside the stones of the fruit can be crushed into a paste and then used on sore gums or gum boils to ease the pain. Because it is one of the few drought-tolerant fruit trees in far-west New South Wales, the tree is widely utilised by Australian Aboriginals.

Read on Wikipedia · Image John Moss, Public domain