Owenia reticulata
F.Muell.
Meliaceae
Common Name: Desert Walnut
Collage of t`he plant and the ripening fruits
Photograph by: G. Byrne
Image used with the permission of the Western Australian Herbarium, Department of Parks and Wildlife
General Information
Desert walnut is a tree growing from 4 - 14 metres tall.
The tree is sometimes harvested from the wild for its edible seed and sap, which are eaten locally.
Known Hazards
None known
Botanical References
Range
Australia - Queensland, Northern Territory, Western Australia.
Habitat
Stony ridges, red sand dunes, plains[
].
Properties
| Edibility Rating |  |
| Habit | Tree |
| Height | 10.00 m |
| Cultivation Status | Wild |
Cultivation Details
Not known
Edible Uses
Seed - cooked[
301- Title
- Cornucopia II
- Publication
-
- Author
- Facciola. S.
- Publisher
- Kampong Publications, California.
- Year
- 1998
- ISBN
- 0-9628087-2-5
- Description
- The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
]. A pleasant flavour, but the seed shell is so hard, and so much force is needed to break it, that the seed is invariably crushed and only fragments are available to eat[
301- Title
- Cornucopia II
- Publication
-
- Author
- Facciola. S.
- Publisher
- Kampong Publications, California.
- Year
- 1998
- ISBN
- 0-9628087-2-5
- Description
- The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
]. The seed is usually roasted[
301- Title
- Cornucopia II
- Publication
-
- Author
- Facciola. S.
- Publisher
- Kampong Publications, California.
- Year
- 1998
- ISBN
- 0-9628087-2-5
- Description
- The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
].
A sap-like liquid is obtained from the tree[
301- Title
- Cornucopia II
- Publication
-
- Author
- Facciola. S.
- Publisher
- Kampong Publications, California.
- Year
- 1998
- ISBN
- 0-9628087-2-5
- Description
- The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
]. Called 'marnta', it is somewhat reminiscent of golden syrup[
301- Title
- Cornucopia II
- Publication
-
- Author
- Facciola. S.
- Publisher
- Kampong Publications, California.
- Year
- 1998
- ISBN
- 0-9628087-2-5
- Description
- The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
]. The syrup takes on a salty flavour upon crystallizing[
301- Title
- Cornucopia II
- Publication
-
- Author
- Facciola. S.
- Publisher
- Kampong Publications, California.
- Year
- 1998
- ISBN
- 0-9628087-2-5
- Description
- The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
].
Medicinal
None known
Other Uses
None known
Propagation
Seed -
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Useful Tropical Plants Database 2014 by
Ken Fern,
web interface by
Ajna Fern
with help from
Richard Morris.
