Little gooseberry tree facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Little gooseberry tree
Scientific classification
Genus:	Buchanania
Species:	arborescens
Synonyms
List Buchanania attopeuensis (Pierre) Tardieu Buchanania bancana Miq. Buchanania glaberrima Ridl. Buchanania intermedia Wight Buchanania longifolia Blume Buchanania longifolia Span. Buchanania lucida Blume Buchanania monticola Kaneh. & Hatus. Buchanania muelleri Engl. Buchanania nabirensis Kaneh. & Hatus. Buchanania novohibernica Lauterb. Buchanania palembanica Blume Buchanania papuana C.T.White Buchanania petiolaris Miq. Buchanania platyphylla Merr. Buchanania polybotrya Miq. Buchanania pseudoflorida G.Perkins Buchanania scandens Lauterb. Buchanania solomonensis Merr. & L.M.Perry Buchanania subobovata Griff. Buchanania versteeghii Merr. & L.M.Perry Coniogeton arborescens Blume

Buchanania arborescens, commonly known as little gooseberry tree or sparrow's mango, is a small and slender tree native to seasonal tropical forests of northern Australia, south-east Asia, and the Solomon Islands.

The leaves are spirally arranged, smooth, leathery, elongated oblong, 5–26 cm long. The flowers are very small cream to yellowish white. The edible fruit are globular, small (1 cm long), reddish to purple-black. These are eaten by Torresian imperial pigeons and other birds.

The species was formally described in 1826 by botanist Carl Ludwig Blume based on plant specimens collected from Java. Initially naming it Coniogeton arborescens, Blume transferred the species to the genus Buchanania in 1850.

In Australia the species occurs naturally across the northern extremities of the continent from Western Australia and across the Northern Territory to Queensland where it extends down the east coast as far south as Hinchinbrook Island.

Uses

Aboriginal people eat the fruit raw. The plant is also used as a traditional medicine in Australia and Malaysia. The 1889 book 'The Useful Native Plants of Australia' records that "The unripe fruits of this plant were gathered, and, when boiled, imparted an agreeable acidity to the water, and when thus prepared, tasted tolerably well. When ripe, they become sweet and pulpy, like gooseberries, although their rind is not very thick. This resemblance induced us to call the tree 'the little gooseberry'tree" quoted from Leichhardt: Overland journey to Port Essington, p. 479.