Eumachia frutescens Seeds | Hodgkinsonia
LATIN NAME: Eumachia frutescens
COMMON NAME: Eumachia, Hodgkinsonia
Plant Profile
Eumachia frutescens is a north Queensland understorey shrub known as turkey bush, with large leaves and red fruits the size of a marble. It grows in the dry rainforest and vine thicket of Cape York Peninsula and northeastern Queensland, from sea level to about 800 metres, in the shade of taller trees on soils that are seasonally dry. The plant reaches one to three metres, with large, elliptical, leathery leaves up to 20 cm long, and broadly triangular stipules that persist on the stem after the leaves have fallen. The flowers are white and tubular, with a throat densely hairy inside, and they are followed by red drupes about a centimetre long, each with two seeds. It was described in 1942 as Hodgkinsonia frutescens and moved to Eumachia in 2017, a change that reflects the reorganisation of the coffee family in Australia as much as anything else. It is a plant of the shaded forest floor, not a garden showpiece.
Science & Biotechnology
Eumachia frutescens is one of about eighty species in a genus that was expanded in 2017 to take in a group of shrubs formerly scattered through Psychotria and Hodgkinsonia. The genus is defined by raphides in the tissue, interpetiolar stipules that yellow and break off in fragments, and drupes with hard, ribbed pyrenes, and it is more diverse in the Pacific than anywhere else. The species is a dry rainforest specialist, and its large leathery leaves and persistent stipules are adaptations to a habitat that is wet for part of the year and dry for the rest. The flowers are pollinated by insects, and the red fruit is eaten by birds, which carry the seed into forest gaps. The plant is not a rapid coloniser and depends on established shade, which makes it vulnerable to clearing and to fire in a region where both are common. Its taxonomy is settled but its ecology has been little studied.
Uses & Benefits
The plant is grown in Australian native gardens in frost-free districts as a shade-tolerant understorey shrub, and it is used in restoration plantings in the dry tropics, where it tolerates seasonal drought once established. The fruit is eaten by birds but not by people, and the wood is too small to be useful. In the nursery trade it is sold as turkey bush, a name that is applied to at least a dozen unrelated Australian plants, including Eremophila species and Alyxia, so a plant bought under that name may be something quite different. For a gardener it is a foliage plant for a shaded bed under trees, with modest white flowers and bright fruit in autumn. It is not a plant for a cold climate, and it needs protection from frost when young.
Growing from Seed
Sow fresh seed, cleaned of the red flesh, in a shaded pot of loam, leafmould and grit at 22 to 27 degrees; germination takes one to three months and is uneven. Cuttings of semi-ripe wood in summer are quicker and root in a closed frame. Grow the seedlings in bright shade, keep them humid, and pot them on until they are 30 cm tall. Plant out into dappled shade in well-drained soil enriched with organic matter, and water through the first two dry seasons. The plant is tender below about two degrees, so in cool districts it needs a glasshouse. Mulch with leaf litter to keep the roots cool, and prune lightly after flowering. It is slow to establish and should not be planted in full sun.
Our Take
A Queensland dry-rainforest shrub with big leathery leaves and red marble fruit. Shade, warmth, and a name shared with a dozen other plants.
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