KANGAROO APPLE

Erect perennial shrub to 2m high. Only found in several communities of the Upper Darling Basin. The species is being cultivated overseas for the production of a steroid important in Cortisone cream.

Leaves - are large and lobed with the middle one longer resembling a kangaroo paw; on young plants may be very deeply divided into narrow pointed lobes.

Flowers - violet-blue similar to a potato flower but larger.

Fruit - oval, yellow/orange when ripe. All parts of the plant are toxic, except the burst ripe berries. The fully ripened berries are edible and can be used fresh or dried, but unpleasant to taste. The flavour is often described as sickly sweet with a hint of bitterness.

Flowering - spring.

Indigenous uses - the fruit was used as a poultice on swollen joints