About Owenia vernicosa F.Muell.
Owenia vernicosa, commonly known as emu apple, is a tree species native to northern Australia. Its bark is orange-grey and flakes away from the trunk. After flowering, the tree produces deep red fruit; its white, cream, and green inflorescences bloom between October and November. This tree grows on alluvial sand, or on black and loamy clays that lie over sandstone. Its typical habitats include rocky ridge lines, slopes, and areas alongside creeks. Indigenous Australians have two recorded uses for this species: they pulverize its inner bark to add to small bodies of water as a fish toxin, which lets them easily collect fish from the water surface, and they boil the inner bark in water to use the resulting liquid as an antiseptic wash for open cuts and sores. Emus are confirmed to eat the fruit of this species. The meaning of Indigenous language terms for this species suggests that red-tailed black cockatoos likely eat its fruit. Sugar gliders are confirmed to consume the sap of this species.
