Davidsonia jerseyana

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information:

Wikipedia links:        Angiosperms > Eudicots > Rosids  > Oxalidales > Cunoniaceae > Davidsonia  jerseyana

Other links:     

Plant  information

Common name:               Davidson's plum 

• Also, Mullumbimby plum  

Conservation status:   It is considered an endangered species

Etymology:   

• Named after John Ewen Davidson (1841-1923) who arrived in Cardwell in December 1865 with the view of establishing a sugar cane planation in Rockingham Bay; the naming probably arose from the chance meeting between Dallachy and Davidson, during the time when Dallachy made the first herbarium collection of D. pruriens

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Flowers:                  

• Dark pink to red flowers that are arranged on panicles

• Panicles are usually borne on the main stem or older branches, and 4–10 cm long

Fruit:                         

• The tree's fruit emerge from the trunk, and superficially resemble the European plum

• Fruit are blue-black in colour, pear to oval-shaped and covered with golden-brown hairs

• They have dark red flesh, and usually two large seed cases that are fibrous on the surface

• Each with a single seed 

Leaves:         

• The leaves are alternate and mostly 35–80 cm long and more or less covered with irritant hairs

• Each leaf has 11–17 oblong-shaped leaflets, mostly 6–30 cm long and 3–10 cm wide

Stem & branches: 

Roots:         

Habit:        

• Is a small, slender subtropical rainforest tree up to 10 m high

Habitat:   

• It is found in coastal and lowland subtropical rainforest and wet sclerophyll forest

• Often with an overstorey including Lophostemon confertus (Brush Box), Araucaria cunninghamii (Hoop Pine) and/or eucalypt species

• It  has been recorded at altitudes up to 300 m

Distribution:                  

•  It is endemic to a restricted area of northern NSW

• It is restricted to the Brunswick and Tweed River catchments of the north coast of NSW

• The southern-most confirmed record of the species is located near Mullumbimb

Additional notes:     

• There are two other species of Davidson's plum

• Distinguishing features

  • The hairy leaves and pear to oval shaped fruit of Davidson's Plum allow it to be distinguished from Davidsonia johnsonii (Smooth Davidsonia)

  •  Further distinguishing features are the dense crown and stems surrounding clumps of root suckers in the Smooth Davidsonia.

• Use

  • It is cultivated for its pleasantly sour fruit which is used commercially in jam, wine, ice-cream and sauces

  • The tree is propagated from seed and typically starts producing a crop by year four

  • It produces large crops of fruit from the trunk

  • Bagging is used to protect the fruit from sunburn and Australian king parrots

  • It likes protection from full sun and wind when young, adequate soil moisture, and good soil nutrition

Sources of information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davidsonia_jerseyana (2023)

• https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/-/media/OEH/Corporate-Site/Documents/Animals-and-plants/Recovery-plans/davidsons-plum-davidsonia-jerseyana-recovery-plan.pdf (dated February 2004)