Blueberry is is a lovely ‘small tree’ native to the east coast of Australia, from Flinders Island, Tasmania in the south to Fraser Island, Queensland in the north. The common name, blueberry ash, comes from the fruit, which is a blue berry. The binomial name is Elaeocarpus reticulatus. The word Elaeocarpus is Greek, meaning olive fruit, while the word reticulatus is Latin for ‘forming a network’. Like a lot of Australian plants, blueberry ash has a lignotuber that allows the plant to regenerate after a fire.

This tree is a pretty one that is used quite often in gardens here in Sydney, reaching up to 10m tall. Its native habitat is rather wide, from moist gullies in woodland to rocky outcrops and sandy scrub along the coast-it is therefore quite a hardy species and is happy in shade or full sun. While it does clearly tolerate a range of conditions, it is best when well watered in the garden.

The leaves are rather tough but delicate looking. They are elliptical in shape with serrate (toothed-the leaf edges look a bit like the cutting blade of a bread knife) margins. The veins are also rather prominent. Blueberry ash is evergreen, but when the leaves get old, they turn red before they fall off (evergreen plants still need to renew their leaves, the process occurs throughout the year, rather than all at once in autumn).

The flowers are usually white, but sometimes pink-there seems to be more pink ones in cultivation than white. The lampshade-shaped flowers are fairly small with a fringe on the bottom of them. The flowers appear in spring, so October and November here in Australia. Apparently, the flowers smell of liquorice-I’ll have to get my nose in where I can and have a smell as I’ve never notice this before! The flowers are followed by oval, blue fruits that look like olives.

To propagate this tree, you can use seed, but this can take up to two years to germinate. Probably for this reason, semi-hardwood cuttings can be taken in February, the end of summer. It’s done at this time of year because it is till warm enough to encourage the growth of new roots and then leaves before the cold of winter comes along.

This tree has several ‘uses’ in the garden. It attracts birds like crimson rosellas, the regent bowerbird and fig birds. It can be used as a ‘specimen tree’ (landscape designer nonsense speak for a a tree that is the centre of the garden design), due to its flowers, fruit and leaves. The blueberry ash tree is also suitable for pots/containers. Being native to where I live, they are suited to the conditions here, which is a really good thing-it will need less ongoing care than other plants less suited to the local conditions.

My opinion on this tree is that it is a really pretty one that I would love to have in my garden if I ever get a chance to have my own. They aren’t too big and have plenty of interest over the course of the year. I do recommend it as a tree for your garden.

https://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/interns2002/elaeocarpus-reticulatus.html. Accessed 09/11/24.

Robinson, L., 2003, Field Guide to the Native Plants of Sydney, 3rd Edition, Simon & Schuster, Cammeray

Fairley, A., and Moore, P., 2010, Native Plants of the Sydney Region, 3rd Edition, Allan & Unwin, Crows Nest