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Billardiera scandens

Common name:	Common Appleberry	Family:	Pittosporaceae
Author:	Sm.	Botanical references:	154
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Australia - New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria.
Habitat:	By mountain streams or scrub country in forests, by coasts and on tablelands[154].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	scandens = climbing
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Rosales. Pittosporum family

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen climber growing to 3m by 3m . It is hardy to zone 8. It is in leaf all year. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Dappled Shade, By Walls, By South Wall, By West Wall.

Edible Uses

Fruit.

Fruit - raw or cooked[105, 154]. Unripe fruits can be roasted[193]. A pleasant sub-acid flavour akin to dried apples[2, 144]. Tastes like kiwi fruits (Actinidia deliciosa)[193]. The fruits are up to 2.5cm long[193].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Requires a moist, well-drained, humus-rich, lime-free soil in sun or semi-shade with a cool root run[200].
This species usually requires greenhouse protection in Britain[1], but plants can succeed outdoors on a wall in mild areas of the country[166]. They tolerate temperatures down to at least -7° c[157] in Australian gardens but this cannot be translated directly to British gardens because of our cooler summers and longer, colder and wetter winters.

Propagation

Seed - best sown in a warm greenhouse as soon as it is ripe. Only just cover the seed. Sow stored seed in early spring in a warm greenhouse. The germination of fresh seed is usually prolific, but stored seed can take a year to germinate[200]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 10 - 12cm with a heel, July/August in a frame. Fair percentage.
Layering.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Pittosporaceae.

[CHINA] Draft Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[144] Cribb. A. B. and J. W. Wild Food in Australia. Fontana 1976 ISBN 0-00-634436-4
A very good pocket guide.

[154] Ewart. A. J. Flora of Victoria.
A flora of eastern Australia, it is rather short on information that is useful to the plant project.

[157] Wrigley. J. W. and Fagg. M. Australian Native Plants. Collins. (Australia) 1988 ISBN 0-7322-0021-0
A lovely book, written in order to encourage Australian gardeners to grow their native plants. A little bit of information for the plant project.

[166] Taylor. J. The Milder Garden. Dent 1990
A good book on plants that you didn't know could be grown outdoors in Britain.

[193] Low. T. Wild Food Plants of Australia. Angus and Robertson. 1989 ISBN 0-207-14383-8
Well presented, clear information and good photographs. An interesting read for the casual reader as well as the enthusiast

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

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