Devils Twine, Citrus Bite & Snot

Whilst foraging again today for more native Cherries (Exocarpos cupressiformis) & native Blue Berries (Billardiera sp.) I found and picked the fruit of the Devils Twine (Cassytha pubescens) which is a hemi-parasitic plant that almost completely covers and weighs down other plants, the stems of the plant are very strong and were used as twine. The fruits have a pleasant taste when you fist bite into them but then comes the snot yes I said snot they do the same thing that other mistletoes (Viscum sp.) fruits do they are like eating boogers I don’t personally eat these or mistletoes I just wanted to show you them and if you find them you can decide for your self.

The other little green fruits (about 2 up to 4 mm) I found in the picture below are Leptomeria drupacea I don’t have a common name for this one but it would have something to do with citrus for sure because when you bite into the tinny fruits you get an intense citric acid taste astoundingly strong for the size of the fruits, and after getting back to my friends place and researching them further the only information I could fine on their edibility was an old historical documentation of them being edible as they helped the “ailing scury-striken crews and convicts from the First Fleet.”  They reminded me of eating green ants a bit and would work well in a drink for that acid tang and they would be less painful to collect than the ants.

They are in the same family as the Devils Twine, the Mistletoes and the Native cherries which is the Sandalwood or Santalaceae family but these aren’t snotty and neither are sandlewood (Santalum obtusifolium) fruits or the red quandong (Santalum acuminatum) two of my all time favorite bush foods. Most of the Santalaceae family are partially parasitic on other plants and the family includes about 1,000 species but in Australia we have 10 genera, 46 species (42 species endemic) I find these plant fascinating.

Also driving along today heading back towards Hobart I seen a patch of wild chicory (Cichorium intybus) on the side of the road I had to stop and take a photo they looked beautiful swaying in the breeze, they have a gorgeous blue sky flower and they looked stunning along side the false dandelions (Hypochaeris radicata) bright yellow flowers I love blue and yellow or orange together I used to use this combination a lot in landscaping. You can eat the flowers apparently but they are pretty bitter and I like bitter things so that is saying something but a few flowers in a salad would look pretty special. I haven’t had a chance to harvested the roots or leaves yet I haven’t really seen that many here before but I know where these are now so if I’m here in Autumn I may come and dig the roots up to try them I will let you know if I do.

Well happy foraging everyone