Terminalia petiolaris – Marool Plum (seed)

Description

Terminalia petiolaris is commonly known as blackberry tree or billygoat plum, or marool in the local Bardi language. Combretaceae family. It is endemic to the coast of the Kimberley region of northern Western Australia. It grows as a small, deciduous tree up to 15 m in height with rough, grey bark. It produces strongly scented, cream-white flowers from February to May, and November to December. It has edible fruits, purple when ripe (from Wikipedia).

We have probably achieved a world first by grafting Terminalina ferdinandiana (Kakadu Plum/Gubinge) to a Terminalia petiolaris petiolaris root stock. The species are closely related and the graft union is highly successful. The grafted plant shows a super growth rate in our subtropical environment as opposed to on its own roots. This may overcome the problem of not being able to grow Kakadu Plum commercially or succesfully outside of the tropics.

Care and Cultivation of Terminalia petiolaris

Terminalia petiolaris seeds have a physical dormancy and will need to be nicked, sanded or filed to encourage germination. With no treatment, you can expect to wait 6 months to 2 years or more until the embryo can imbibe water and start the germination process.  To encourage germination, you need to only barely expose the inner ‘almond’ by filing the shell with a rasp or cutting with secateurs, be careful. No wonder they can take a long time to germinate with no treatment!

Plant seeds just under the surface (1cm) in a good quality seed raising mix in full sun. Keep moist and warm until germination, which may take up to 3 months (depending on how well you file down the seed coat). A drought tolerant, beautiful and hardy species.

7 seeds per packet