| Eupomatia laurina | |
|---|---|
| Bolwarra flowering in cultivation in Sydney | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Magnoliophyta |
| Class: | Magnoliopsida |
| Order: | Magnoliales |
| Family: | Eupomatiaceae |
| Genus: | Eupomatia |
| Species: | E. laurina |
| Binomial name | |
| Eupomatia laurina R. Br. |
|
Eupomatia laurina, known as Bolwarra or sometimes Native Guava or Copper Laurel is a shrub to small tree, often seen between 3 and 5 metres tall. However larger specimens may attain a height of 15 metres and a trunk diameter of 30 cm.[1] Native to eastern Australia, from as far south as Nowa Nowa in the state of Victoria and as far as north as Cooktown in tropical Queensland and also New Guinea. It is a primitive flowering plant, usually growing as an understorey in rainforest or wet sclerophyll forest.
Leaves are glossy, oblong-elliptic, from 7-12 cm long. The globose to urn-shaped edible yellow-green fruit is 15-20mm in diameter and bears from the branches and trunk. Germination from fresh seed commences after around three weeks and is complete after five weeks, with a high level of germination. Cuttings are not advised as a method of regeneration.[2]
The sweet, aromatic fruit is used as a spice-fruit in cooking, being included in beverages, jams and desserts. It is best used in combination with other ingredients that compliment its strong flavor, and hence should be considered one of the Australian spices.
In cultivation E. laurina is frost sensitive and prefers a protected, semi-shaded site. It can be propagated from seed or cuttings. Cutting propagated trees produce fruit after two years. Seedlings take four to six years to fruit.
There is also two other related species endemic to Australia, E. bennettii, or small bolwarra and E. barbata, or northern small bolwarra.