Winter Apple: Bush Tucker
One of my chooks went a-wandering so I went off into the paddock after her and came across this plant. I could not remember what name eblonged to it but after searching "Bush tucker ground cover" and looking at pictures I eventually found this plants name; Winter Apple or Eremophila debilis. I much prefer the English name.
I can often find the Winter Apple growing in places around our property, it is easiest to spy now though because its fruits are ripening. They become a much brighter pink than in these photos. They are a ground cover plant and native to Australia. I found these two plants growing under a box tree and it turns out that the Winter Apple prefers to grow in Box and White Cypress tree forests.
The fruits are edible, but there is not really much to them. I will eat a ripe one or two if I come across them, but nearly all of the fruit is seed and what skin and flesh there is can sometimes be bitter, you never really know until you have eaten it.
The plant can get up to 1-2m in diameter but I have never found any that big, the ones pictured are around 30cm. There is also a white variety, whose fruit goes white and it is said to be sweater, but I am not sure if that one grows wild or not. I suspect that if grown in a garden they would grow a lot bigger.
I find it rather fun though to be able to go walking in the paddocks and be able to find bush tucker and to be able to pick eat it as I go.
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