Ceylon Olive – Elaeocarpus serratus

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I had a request from Cedric in Maryborough for a Ceylon Olive so I rang Shirley Philpott who said that they use to eat them straight off the tree when she lived there as a young girl. It’s an ornamental medium-sized tree, indigenous to Ceylon, producing smooth, ovoid, green fruits of the size of olives which they resemble. The fleshy portion surrounding the seed is sub-acid. In its unripe state they are also used in pickling. It is propagated by seed and thrives in moist low-country up to 2000ft.

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STFC newsletter Aug Sept 2008