by Juliet Bodycomb

In this article series, Know Your Park Lands Plants, we introduce you to the diverse and funky plant species that populate your Adelaide Park Lands.

This time, we bring you the native apricot, Pittosporum angustifolium. Also known as weeping pittosporum, cattle bush, gumbi gumbi, and butterbush (the list goes on!), the native apricot is a small, slow-growing tree that grows throughout your Open, Green, Public Park Lands.

Some of the parks in which you may find this native plant are Golden Wattle Park / Mirnu Wirra (Park 21W), G.S. Kingston Park / Wirrarninthi (Park 23) (including several in West Terrace Cemetery), in the Narnungga Urban Forest in the western portion of Gladys Elphick Park / Narnungga (Park 25), and in Yam Daisy Park / Kantarilla (Park 3).

Usually growing from 2-6m tall, the native apricot tree has thin, drooping branches, from which hang thin, willowy leaves. It thrives in arid and semi-arid inland Australia, and often occurs in small numbers.

Like many native Australian plants, it is tolerant to drought and frost and can grow in areas with rainfall as little as 150mm per year. 

The tree blooms from May to October, in which you may find it bearing tubular, cream-yellow flowers and ovular, yellow fruit containing bright red, sticky seeds.

Though its fruit isn’t a food source, Aboriginal peoples have widely utilised the native apricot as a treatment for colds, coughs, eczema, and to induce lactation.

Want to know more about the plants in your Park Lands? Head over to iNaturalist, where you can record, share, and discuss your findings with fellow naturalists.

There is an iNaturalist page, which can show you exactly where citizen scientists (like you!) have observed native apricot (Pittosporum angustifolium).

See the other plants featured in our own series here.

Banner image taken in the West Terrace Cemetery in Park 23 by James Elsby.