Terminalia ferdinandiana Exell

A small to medium sized tree. It grows 4-10 m tall. It is a spreading tree (3 m) with a rounded crown. It looses its leaves during the year. The bark is creamy grey and rough. It has a checkered pattern and is somewhat flaky. The leaves occur in spirals. They are crowded near the ends of small branches. The leaves are large and smooth. They are somewhat leathery and oval to round. They can be 5-25 cm long and 5-20 cm across. They are light green and the veins show up distinctly. The leaf stalk is 2-10 cm long. The leaf stalk and main vein are yellowish-green. The leaves turn to yellow before falling. The flowers are cream, have 5 petals and have a strong nectar smell. They are 0.5 cm across and occur on spikes. The spikes can be 10-20 cm long. They develop in the axils of leaves towards the ends of small branches. The fruit is smooth and fleshy. It is oval and 1.5-2.5 cm long by 1-2 cm across. They have a short beak. They are yellowish-green when ripe. The young fruit are ribbed. (The fruit look like an immature olive). The fruit are edible. They have a single seed in a woody shell. The seed is edible.

It is a tropical plant. It occurs as an understorey tree in open forest in northern Australia. It prefers light sandy soil. The soil should be well drained. It suits an open sunny position. It is drought resistant. It is damaged by frost, being very frost sensitive. It suits seasonally dry tropical areas.

The fruit are eaten raw. The fruit can be cooked and used for jams and chutneys. The gum is eaten. The seed is edible.

It can be grown from fresh seed. Germination can take 6-12 weeks. It requires warm moist conditions. It is best to make a small cut in the seed to improve germination. It can re-grow from burnt stumps producing a low shrub that had been named Terminalia prostrata.