quandongs

This amused me in my after-lunch blog-check today.

Red? Tastes like rhubarb/apricot/strawberries? When I was growing up in Innisfail we had a quandong tree in the backyard, about 15m tall or so I would guess, and although the fruit were edible, they were blue, quite dry, and tasted nothing like any of those 3. I turned to wikipedia:

Which says there are 3 types of quandong, which I think I've read somewhere before. I assume the blog author was referring to one of the first two varieties, whereas we are more familiar with third. They're not from the same genus - one is a "non-obligate root parasite" and the other a tree that grows up to 36+ m - but they have very similar seeds.

The wikipedia page also says that

They are frequently eaten by cassowaries; in fact it is commonly thought that the seeds may be unable to germinate unless they pass through the animal's intestines.

We had cassowaries in the bush at the end of our street that would come up the hill and either around or through our house to eat the fallen quandongs in the backyard. I seem to recall, though, giving seeds to our neighbour Mr Andrews to grow on his hobby farm for the wood. I'm pretty sure he didn't have tamed cassowaries cycling the seeds for him.