Flueggea virosa (Phyllanthaceae)

Flueggea virosa subsp. melanthesoides

This shrub of coastal areas has white edible berries which has been used as Bush Tucker. The flowers occur as clusters and so do the resultant white berries, which resemble currants. It has therefore been called White Currant or Snowball Bush. In some aboriginal cultures this plant is also used as medicine.

I have had the fortune of observing this plant in some of the beach suburbs north of Cairns (Yorkeys Knob and Machans Beach) and I have found that this plant is most easily identified by it’s light green alternate leaves. More on this plant in time.

Flueggea virosa subsp. melanthesoides

About David Tng

I am David Tng, a hedonistic botanizer who pursues plants with a fervour. I chase the opportunity to delve into various aspects of the study of plants. I have spent untold hours staring at mosses and allied plants, taking picture of pollen, culturing orchids in clean cabinets, counting tree rings, monitoring plant flowering times, etc. I am currently engrossed in the study of plant ecology (a grand excuse to see 'anything I can). Sometimes I think of myself as a shadow taxonomist, a sentimental ecologist, and a spiritual environmentalist - but at the very root of it all, a "plant whisperer"!
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