Fibrous satinash fruit
Also called Fibrous satinash · Apricot satinash · Small red appleSyzygium fibrosum · Myrtaceae family
A bright pink-red myrtle fruit recorded in jams, drinks and tarts.
Find it near DetroitGet to know it
Fibrous satinash bears small, bright pink or red fruit with a tart, citrusy, fragrant taste. The flesh is soft and juicy with a powdery texture. At a 2015 Darwin River gathering, cooks turned it into sweet sauce and added it to pickled crab.
What it is
Also called small red bush apple, Syzygium fibrosum belongs to the myrtle family. Its round, sometimes slightly flattened fruit is 1–2 cm (½–¾ in) across. The fleshy wall is a little fibrous, and there is one seed inside.
It is eaten when soft, including straight from the tree. The tartness and citrus-like fragrance are part of its character, alongside that soft, powdery-juicy bite.
Where it comes from
This is a fruit of northern Australia and New Guinea. In Australia, it grows in the Northern Territory and Queensland; its range also reaches the Aru Islands.
It grows beneath taller forest trees, especially in drier rainforest with distinct wet and dry seasons. It also grows in gallery forest, the strips of forest that follow rivers and other waterways.
How it's eaten where it grows
At a 2015 wild-food gathering at Darwin River in the Northern Territory, cooks added fibrous satinash to crab pickled with lemongrass, vinegar, ginger and chilli. The crab is steamed and removed from its shell before pickling. Another preparation from the same gathering simmered the fruit with sugar to make a sweet sauce served on the side.
The fruit also goes into jam and drinks, including gin and vodka mixtures.
How it's grown
The tree can reach 10 m (33 ft), with dense dark-green foliage and clusters of cream flowers. Its compact shape and attraction for birds make it a garden and streetscape tree as well as a fruit tree.
It grows from seed. In cultivation, it suits full sun and moist, fertile soil that drains well, with moderate watering.
When and where you'll find it
Around Tiwi, Darwin and Arnhem Land, the fruit usually ripens in the late dry season. Garden and landscaping trees bring it into the Darwin region’s urban areas as well as its forests.
There, people forage it from garden trees and eat it fresh off the tree once it turns soft.
Get it near Detroit
What it tastes like
The fruit is soft, with a powdery-juicy texture and a tart, citrusy, fragrant taste.
The fruit wall is fleshy but slightly fibrous.
Choose, eat
1ChooseSoft fruit
Look for
- Soft fruit
Ignore
- Color alone
These small pink fruits are eaten when soft, and generally contain one small seed; softness is a better ripeness cue than color alone.
2EatFruit
Eat
FruitThe fruit is used for jams and drinks.
Detroit, Michigan
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Fibrous satinash fruit · Fruitopia · checked Sep 22, 2026