Davidson’s Plum

The tiny little Davidson’s plum seedling I bought two years ago has just flowered for the first time! I might even be lucky enough to get some fruit - they can start bearing when they are about three years old. I’ll be sure to have a bag of sugar on hand to cook them up though, while I admit I haven’t tasted one yet, all the descriptions are along the line of ‘tangy’, ‘astringent’ and ‘sour’ so they’re probably not my thing - apparently they do make great jam!

There are a few species of Davidson’s plum, all part of the Davidsonia genus, and all are endemic to the east coast rainforest regions of Australia. D. jerseyana and D. johnsonii both come from regions in northern New South Wales, while D. pruriens is from northern Queensland. They are relatively slender trees - D. pruriens is much taller, and D. johnsonii, or the ‘smooth Davidson’s plum’ is known to be a bit bushier with a suckering habit. They have amazing jagged leaves and look prehistoric and terribly spikey; although they’re not. My favourite part is that, like a lot of Australian natives, the new leaves flush the prettiest of pinks!

The flowers and subsequent fruit are borne in little clusters on the main stems, and because the trees can get quite high, the best way to harvest is to give them a good shake and the ripe ones will fall to the ground. They also can be susceptible to fruit fly, but I was recently told that the southern species are less so - the theory was they have a thicker skin.

Even the American’s are on board - I’ve seen several food foresters and rare fruit enthusiasts from the warmer southern states discussing growing tips for our very own Davidson’s plum in online forums!