Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Elaeocarpus holopetalus

Flowering stems. Photographer Don Wood, Coolangubra State Forest near Bombala

Fruiting stems. Photographer Don Wood, SE Forests National Park

Tree. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, near Bemboka

Line drawings. EM Mayfield, a. flowering branch; b. flower; c. fruit. National Herbarium of Victoria, © 2021 Royal Botanic Gardens Board

Common name

Black Olive Berry, Mountain Blueberry, Mountain Quandong

Family

Elaeocarpaceae

Where found

Rainforest and wet gullies. Coast, ranges and tablelands.

Notes

Tree or shrub to 25 m tall. Fruit fleshy. Trunk often flanged towards the base. Bark dark grey, relatively smooth with some fissures and wrinkles, and with horizontally elongated lenticels. Young stems densely hairy with rusty to pale hairs, becoming hairless. Leaves alternating up the stems, 3–11 cm long, 10–30 mm wide, tough to very stiff, upper surface hairless, lower surface hairy with no domatia, margins distinctly toothed, no joint at the top of the leaf stalk. Flowers white to cream, sometimes flushed with pink, with 4-5 petals each 6-12 mm long, entire or shallowly lobed, not fringed. Flower clusters about 1.5-6 cm long. Flowers Spring to Summer. Fruit at first with a waxy bloom, ripening purple or blue-black to glossy black, oval, about 6 mm in diameter. Fruits Summer to Autumn. 

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Elaeocarpus~holopetalus   (accessed 12 January, 2021)