Plants of
South Australia
Billardiera scandens var. scandens
Pittosporaceae
Common Apple-berry,
Eastern Apple-berry
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
Least concern
Near threatened
Rare
Vulnerable
Endangered
Critically endangered
Extinct
Data deficient
Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
Yunta
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 4

Prior names

Labillardiera scandens

Labillardiera mutabilis

Billardiera scandens var. brachyantha

Billardiera brachyantha

Billardiera latifolia

Billardiera daphnoides

Billardiera angustifolia

Billardiera mutabilis

Billardiera canariensis

Common names

Common Apple-berry

Eastern Apple-berry

Etymology

Billardiera named after Jacques-Julien de Labillardiere (1755-1834), a 19th century French botanist who visited Western Australia and Tasmania with the D'Entrecasteaux expedition and named many new plant species. Scandens from Latin meaning to climb or sprawl, alluding to its habit.

Distribution and status

Found in the lower South-east in South Australia in Eucalyptus woodland. Also found in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Native. Rare in South Australia. Common in the other States.
Herbarium region: South Eastern
NRM region: South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Scrambling perennial shrub to 3 m tall. Leaves alternate, sessile or shortly petiolate, linear to ovate-lanceolate, to 60 mm long and 15 mm wide; entire or crenate, more or less lobed; upper surface glabrous to scattered-pubescent, lower surface sparsely to densely pubescent. Flowers solitary bell-shaped greenish-yellow to cream appearing between August and December. Fruits are dark green, cylindrical drupe to 40 mm long and 13 mm wide, covered in hairs; green and hard when immature and soft when ripe. Seeds are brown flat reniform seeds to 4 mm long and 2.5 mm wide, covered in wrinkles. Seed embryo type is linear underdeveloped.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between December and February. Pick mature fruits that are soft or have dark brown seeds inside. Clean ripe fruit as soon as possible as it will go hard if left to dry too long. Rub the fruits in water with your hands to dislodge the seeds from the fruit. Pour the mixture into a sieve to separate the seeds from the flesh. Place the wet seeds in a tray lined with paper and leave to dry for 1 to 2 days. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. From one collection, the seed viability was high, at 85%. This species has physiological dormancy that need to be overcome for the seed to germinate.

Seeds stored:
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LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA2,130 (3.37 g)10-Jan-2007DJD739
South Eastern
1-Aug-200795%+5°C, -18°C
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.