Flowers. Photo: Kevin Thiele, WA

Flowers and leaves. Photo: Don Wood, Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

Green fruit and leaves. Photo: Don Wood, Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

Ripe fruit and leaves. Photo: Don Wood, Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

Tree. Photo: Don Wood, Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

Common Name

Quandong; Sweet Quandong; Native Peach; Katunga; Burn-burn, Desert Quandong

Family

Santalaceae

Notes

Shrub or tree to 6m tall.  Leaves opposite each other, 3-19cm long, 3-15mm wide, flat, hairless, with curved points.  Flowers often small (less than 3mm across), white to pale yellow with red centres, with 4 'petals', in open panicles at the ends of the branches. Fruit red, rarely yellow, edible.

Differs from Santalum lanceolatum in that the flowers are 3-4mm long and the fruit to 2-3cm in diameter.

Differs from Santalum murrayanum in that leaves are always opposite each other and usually more than 4mm wide, and the perianth persists on the fruit until it is virtually ripe.

Description and photos in G.M. Cunningham, WE Mulham, PL Milthorpe and J H Leigh (1981 and later printings) Plants of Western New South Wales pages 226-7

PlantNET description:   http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Santalum~acuminatum