General Description:

Acronychia is a genus of 44 species found in Asia, Australia and islands of the Pacific Ocean. There are about 20 Acronychia species native to Australia with A.acidula being the best known due to its promotion as a food plant.

Lemon Aspen is a rainforest tree to about 15 metres in height. Leaves are dark green, elliptical in shape and up to 250 mm long. Small yellow flowers occur in summer to early autumn followed by edible, pale green to yellow fruits which have a strong citrus flavour.

The plant is not widely cultivated although there is increasing interest in commercial growing due to the bush food potential of the fruits which are used mainly for production of jams where they produce a spicy citrus aroma and an acidic lemon flavour. At this stage, most fruit for commercial uses comes from wild plants but some small scale production occurs in coastal areas of northern New South Wales and Queensland. Limited reports suggest that the plant prefers a sunny, sheltered position and in rich soils that are both moist and well drained.

Propagation can be carried out from seed which germinates well, without treatment, when fresh. Cuttings of firm, current season’s growth should also be successful.

Plant profile image
Fruit of Lemon Aspen
Photo: Black Diamond Images (Flickr Gallery)

Other Native Plant Profiles