Kangaroo Apples
I'm not sure why they have gained the name Kangaroo Apple as they neither look nor taste like apples and Kangaroos don't eat them at all. 
According to Tim Low's Wild Food Plants of Australia book the fruits aren't very tasty at all...in fact unless they are very ripe the solanine in the fruit is mildly poisonous. He describes the fruit as having a sickly sweet pulp that leaves a bitter after taste. The fruit quality can vary from year to year even on the same plant.
So why do I grow it?
It grows into a very attractive shrub, although it doesn't live for more than about five years. It is a source of food for the chickens that grows very quickly to provide them with shade. It is listed in Alanna Moore's Backyard Poultry - Naturally book on her Poultry Plant Profiles.
The plant is not fussy about soil type and is said to be tolerant of torrential rain, drought, frost and heat.
I've heard that some people make chutneys from the fruit but I never seem to get enough to try. This is due to the other reason I grow it...the native birds here love the fruit and so I let them have it all as long as they leave my fruit trees alone.
The birds tend to drop a few and the seeds of these sprout up after a good rain, then I can dig these up to get new plants...and weed out the rest.
Tim Low's book also mentions that these plants are "farmed in the (former) Soviet Union and Hungary is farmed for the alkaloid (solanine), which is extracted from the leaves to make contraceptive pills".
So apart from those countries mentioned in Tim Low's book I don't know if it is grown overseas. It is also native to parts of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
Considering it's lack of cultural requirements it could become quite an environmental weed when grown out of it's natural home...in fact many farmers here don't like it and remove it because the sheep will graze the leaves resulting in poisoning from the solanine.
Seen here as the centre pieces of my double herb spiral they grew rapidly to provide shade for the herbs below but after reaching a certain height were blown over during a wind storm. 
According to Tim Low's Wild Food Plants of Australia book the fruits aren't very tasty at all...in fact unless they are very ripe the solanine in the fruit is mildly poisonous. He describes the fruit as having a sickly sweet pulp that leaves a bitter after taste. The fruit quality can vary from year to year even on the same plant.
So why do I grow it? It grows into a very attractive shrub, although it doesn't live for more than about five years. It is a source of food for the chickens that grows very quickly to provide them with shade. It is listed in Alanna Moore's Backyard Poultry - Naturally book on her Poultry Plant Profiles.
The plant is not fussy about soil type and is said to be tolerant of torrential rain, drought, frost and heat.
I've heard that some people make chutneys from the fruit but I never seem to get enough to try. This is due to the other reason I grow it...the native birds here love the fruit and so I let them have it all as long as they leave my fruit trees alone.
The birds tend to drop a few and the seeds of these sprout up after a good rain, then I can dig these up to get new plants...and weed out the rest.
Tim Low's book also mentions that these plants are "farmed in the (former) Soviet Union and Hungary is farmed for the alkaloid (solanine), which is extracted from the leaves to make contraceptive pills".
So apart from those countries mentioned in Tim Low's book I don't know if it is grown overseas. It is also native to parts of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
Considering it's lack of cultural requirements it could become quite an environmental weed when grown out of it's natural home...in fact many farmers here don't like it and remove it because the sheep will graze the leaves resulting in poisoning from the solanine.
Seen here as the centre pieces of my double herb spiral they grew rapidly to provide shade for the herbs below but after reaching a certain height were blown over during a wind storm.
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5 comments:
Kangaroo Apples?? That's a new one to me. Perhaps that's Aussie humour in action referring to their shape?
I thought the leaves were poisonous? I have one in a pot and worry (very occasionally) that the cats will eat it. But you feed it to the chickens? I might move mine into the chookhouse.
I love growing native fruit trees too. Especially endemic to our area. I'd grow the kangaroo apple after your description of it. Sounds like a beautiful tree...but what tree isn't?
Hi Scarecrow, love your blog!
> I'm not sure why they have gained the name Kangaroo
> Apple as they neither look nor taste like apples and
> Kangaroos don't eat them at all
I believe it's because the leaves look like kangaroo footprints. Have a look at your pics.
(capnkernel)
Thanks Mitch I see that now...although I did find Matron's suggestion quite amusing! lol
I agree Ariad all trees are beautiful. :)
Hi Dorian
The alkaloids are present in the leaves but according to Alanna Moore that is why the chickens leave the young plants alone. I'd still put a wire protector around any in the chook run because they'd scratch the roots up.
I don't feed it to the chooks but they will self feed if they want it.
Chickens are usually (but not always) very clever about (not) eating poisonous plants. I think this natural instinct has probably been bred out of the modern hybrid chickens though. :(
I wouldn't let other livestock have access to it though. But I've never seen any of our cats (over the years) eat the leaves.
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