Elaeocarpus bancroftii
2 Kuranda quandong, ebony heart, Johnstone River almond at suppressed
Identify this sighting
| Elaeocarpus bancroftii | JasonPStewart | 1 Feb 2026 | |
| Elaeocarpus bancroftii | JasonPStewart | 1 Feb 2026 |
Please Login or Register to identify this sighting.
User's notes
_Elaeocarpus bancroftii_ nuts and seeds .
Healthy, fresh, nut (ca. 3cm long and ca. 2cm diameter) with a split in half white seed inside it
and previously i carefully extracted these four intact seeds (ca. 2cm long and ca. 7 mm diameter) including their surrounding brown testas, from inside four nuts .
Private friend's bush block of land near PKs and inland across the road from the area of the Dubiji walk (more generally this area is south of Cape Trib.) .
2023 June 4th 1:43 pm .
4 comments
2 Feb 2026
It's interesting to read on Wikipedia how animals such as Cassowaries, Spectacled Flying-foxes and Giant White-tailed Rats eat them in different ways, and how Indigenous people use "nut stones" to crack them open! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaeocarpus_bancroftii
2 Feb 2026
Yes really so special trees !
Which have:
• matt–green coloured large ripe fruits (ca. 4–5cm diameter with edible flesh inside the skin, around the woody nut),
• really hard woody nuts, having four-sides and sutures (usually), inside this flesh, and
• white seeds (edible) inside these nuts, which have, thin but tough, brown 'skins' (testa) surrounding and protecting them .
These above photographs show my own careful, from much experience, cracking of these nuts for the purposes of these clear photographs of both these nuts and these intact seeds and the one split in half seed retained inside the nut,
including the seeds' white colour and the intact brown 'skins' (botanical term: testas) surrounding the seeds .
I suggest all visit Yalanji Bubu [Country] in Mossman Gorge including the indigenous cultural walks,
in which these fruits, their nuts and seeds and the ancient nut cracking rocks feature.
Hence, there, you will learn first hand highest quality information about these (far and away more high quality information (compared to third hand demagoguery wikipedia).)
Which have:
• matt–green coloured large ripe fruits (ca. 4–5cm diameter with edible flesh inside the skin, around the woody nut),
• really hard woody nuts, having four-sides and sutures (usually), inside this flesh, and
• white seeds (edible) inside these nuts, which have, thin but tough, brown 'skins' (testa) surrounding and protecting them .
These above photographs show my own careful, from much experience, cracking of these nuts for the purposes of these clear photographs of both these nuts and these intact seeds and the one split in half seed retained inside the nut,
including the seeds' white colour and the intact brown 'skins' (botanical term: testas) surrounding the seeds .
I suggest all visit Yalanji Bubu [Country] in Mossman Gorge including the indigenous cultural walks,
in which these fruits, their nuts and seeds and the ancient nut cracking rocks feature.
Hence, there, you will learn first hand highest quality information about these (far and away more high quality information (compared to third hand demagoguery wikipedia).)
2 Feb 2026
This sighting Elaeocarpus bancroftii (Kuranda quandong, ebony heart, Johnstone River almond) of my own shows old weathered examples from the forest floor, of these hard woody nuts which have earlier been chewed open and the seeds inside eaten out – most likely by the indigenous (ie. incl. meaning native to Au) huge white-talied rats.
Sighting information
- At least 1 Abundance
- JasonPStewart Recorded by
- Greater than 5 metres Plant height
- Yes Fruiting
- Yes Fruits ripe (some), including maybe dispersing
Collections
- Au rain forest and swamp forest plants, incl. phenology – JasonPStewartNMsnc2016 NatureMapr Other Trees Plants Elaeocarpus bancroftii Featured Pinned
Species information
- Elaeocarpus bancroftii Scientific name
- Kuranda quandong, ebony heart, Johnstone River almond Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 71.99m Recorded at altitude
- External link More information
Seasonal activity
-
Was the plant in flower?
JFMAMJJASOND
Record quality
Quality score
5 / 7
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Verified by an expert moderator
- Description
- Additional attributes
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- GPS evidence of location