Diospyros australis should germinate. Its edible berries are used in bushfood. Diospyros australis Diospyros australis is the most southerly of the group of some 450 ebonies and persimmons. It is a shrub or small tree growing in rainforests of seaward eastern Australia. The habitat is in a variety of different rainforest forms, though not often seen in the cool temperate rainforests. The range of natural distribution is from Durras Lake (35° S) near Batemans Bay in south east New South Wales, to Atherton (17° S) in tropical Queensland. Common names include black plum and yellow persimmon. "Grey plum", sometimes used for this
Bush tomato is roasted before being eaten or dried. Fruit of "S.orbiculatum" is edible, but the fruit of the large leafed form may be bitter. Fruit of "S. phlomoides" appears to be edible after the removal of seeds and roasting or sundrying. "S. aviculare" contains solasodine, a steroid used in the manufacture of oral contraceptives. Bush tomato The term bush tomato refers to the fruit or entire plants of certain nightshade ("Solanum") species native to the more arid parts of Australia. While they are quite closely related to tomatoes ("Solanum lycopersicum"), they might be even closer relatives of the eggplant ("S. melongena"),