Wombat Berry: Pretty Bush Food
This is one of those wonderful plants where the fruits are more decorative and showy than the flower, Eustrephus latifolius produces deep golden berries that are edible but not particularly palatable, perhaps the fleshy roots are more tasty, but I haven’t tried then also though I’m told you can eat them.
Eustrephus latifolius flowers in spring with small white slightly hairy petals, the fruits develop over the Summer months and then burst open to reveal large black seeds which remain on the plant for several months. The deep yellow and black make a wonderful combination.
Wombat Berry is a very gentle climber or twining plants, it grows naturally in the bush as an understory alson along the east coast of Australia.
It makes a good climber on a trellis or grown as a screen, because it is not aggressive or particularly vigorous it won’t smother other plants or destroy growing structures.
In the image above you can see it twining through some chicken wire that is wrapped around a Brachychiton in a friends garden. I have also grown it as an indoor plant, when it is young it has an almost miniature ornamental bamboo-like appearance and survived in my bathroom on a window sill for several years. Tough plant 😉
So although I am not a big fan of the fruit to eat I am an admirer of this gentle native, in the image above you can see the pinkish colour of the flower buds on the same plant that is already setting fruit. It is well worth a try as an ornamental plant in a native garden.
invasive pest that is hard to irradicate.
seedlings are now all over my neighbourhood so am currently trying to dig up all plants out of my yard – be careful if you are planning to use in your yard
Hi Anne,
Thanks for letting me know, I haven’t seen Wombat Berry go rampant in a garden situation before, whereabouts are you located?
Best Wishes,
Kath
Hi just short note on wombat Berry I’m to in agreement with kath very strange to see it become an invasive pest throughout your neighbourhood are you shore it is wombat Berry and not an exotic weed that is taking over your neighbourhood see it grows at the bottom flooring of our natural bush to become invasive you would have to be living in the bush forest amongst it all where it would naturally grow and if that was the case it wouldn’t be classed as a weed it would be called natural growth .