Common Name:

General Information

Nitraria billardierei is a stiff, often widely spreading shrub formiing hummocks around 60 - 200cm tall and up to 400cm wide[, ]. The branches are often tangled and spiny[].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food. Plants can bear very heavy crops of fruit and were feasted on by native peoples and also emus[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

,

Range

Australia - Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Northern Territory, Western Australia

Synonyms
Has 1 Synonyms

KB
Homotypic Synonyms

Habitat

Locally common on saline flats and floodplains on clay or gypseous soils, but also with isolated occurrences on limestone cliffs[]. Often grows on saline or over-grazed areas, on loamy or clayey soils[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Habit	Shrub
Height	1.50 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Nitraria billardierei is native to arid and semi-arid regions in the werm temperate and subtropical zones of Australia. It is said to have some frost tolerance.
Nitraria species generally prefer a light to medium well-drained soil in an open sunny position. Plants are very salt tolerant and usually grow well on saline soils[]. Established plants are very drought resistant[].
A dioecious species, with individual plants producing either all male or all female flowers. Therefore both male and female-flowered forms of the plant usually need to be grown if fruit and seed are required[].

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw[, ]. An agreeable flavour[].The fresh fruit is refreshingly salty-sweet, but when cooked can become bitter and astringent[].The ovoid-oblong fruit is purple, red or golden when fully ripe, around 10 - 20mm long with a single, large, pointed seed[, ].

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed - germinates best at 18-22°c. The seed is contained in a woody fruit. Pre-soaking for 24 hours in warm water can improve germination, cracking the woody shell (being careful not to damage the fseed) is also beneficial. Even then the seed can take one to severl months to germinate.
The seed germinates much better if it has passed through the digestive system - in particular the fruits were a favourite food for emus and defacated seeds would have a much higher germination rate[].