Billy goat plum , terminalia ferdinandiana or kakadu plum is a slender, hardy, small to medium, deciduous tree found at the northern parts of Australia. It belongs to the family Combretaceae and it has a remarkable fruit content of vitamin C – well documented – one hundred times that of an orange, 3000mg per 100g. The tree has been used as food, traditional medicine and timber usually from the indigenous people.

This fruit of the Billy Goat Plum tree has large, 25cm long and 14cm wide, oval shaped leaves that looses in mid-dry season. When humidity climbs again long spikes are produced which will get covered with tiny, white, scented flowers only 4mm in size. The fruit is oval shaped; it is 1cm in diameter, about 3cm long and contains one large seed. When ripe it has a yellow color, it is soft and easy to harvest.

Fruit is eaten mostly row but it can have a drying-out effect in the mouth. At present the greatest use of fruit is on making jams and gourmet sauces. The Aboriginal people pounded the fruit and used it as an antiseptic and a soothing balm for aching limbs.

Tree propagation is by freshly collected seed.

Billy Goat Plum, terminalia ferdinandiana

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