ABSTRACT
This chapter provides information on uses, folk medicine, chemistry, germplasm, distribution, ecology, cultivation, harvesting, yields, energy, and biotic factors of quandong nut. It is easier to remember the popular name Quandong than Eucarya, Fusanus, or Santalum, the three generic names among which the quandong has been categorized. Both the fruit ("peach") and nut (or "quandong") are edible. The red flesh is cooked in chutneys, jams, and pies. The nut is said to be quite tasty, slightly roasted, and was a favored food of the aborigines. Pierced with a stick as a candle-nut, the seeds will burn away with a clear light. Nuts are also made into bracelets, necklaces, and other ornaments. The hard, durable, close-grained timber is used for cabinet making and wood engraving. Serving as candle-nuts, quandongs are so abundant in part of Australia that they might serve as oil-seeds in the future.
