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Diploglottis australis
Also called Tamarind, Broad-leaved tamarind, Australian Tamarind
Native tamarind is a large rainforest tree from eastern Australia, grown as a park or garden tree and sometimes indoors. Give it warm, sheltered conditions away from strong winds, and it will reward you with colourful fruit and rusty new growth.
Diploglottis australis, commonly known as the native tamarind, is a species of large trees in the maple and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is native to the eastern Australian states of New South Wales and Queensland, where it occurs in coastal rainforests. It was first described in 1879, and is known for its abundant edible fruit which are used to make drinks and condiments.
The native tamarind makes an ideal park tree, and is widely cultivated in Australia due to its distinctive and attractive foliage, abundant colourful fruit and rust-coloured furry new growth flushes. The tree will usually only attain a height of about 10 m (33 ft) in cultivation (c.f. 35 m in a forest habitat) due to it not having to compete with nearby trees. The tree is ill-suited to situations where strong winds damage its large leaflets. It may also be grown as an indoor plant.
It can be propagated from fresh seed, which sprout readily, although good seeds may be difficult to find due to them being quickly eaten by fruit bats, birds and ants, as well as being attacked by butterfly larvae.
Diploglottis australis grows in subtropical, warm temperate and dry rainforests, on basaltic and rich alluvial soil from just north of Batemans Bay (~35.5° S) in New South Wales to near Maryborough (~25.5° S) in Queensland.
The orange arils have a refreshing acid flavour—they may be eaten in the raw state and they have been used to make jams, jellies, sauces, chutneys, and cordials. The timber can be used for indoor works.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Diploglottis australis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
