Lilli Pilli

Natural History

Our first every product! Lilli Pilli Conserve is made from the whole berries of the Magenta Cherry Syzigium australe and the Riberry Syzigium leuhmannii commonly known as Lilli Pilli's. A common garden plant due to their attractive foliage and evergreen nature, there are many different varieties of Lilli Pilli and even a suburb in Sydney named after the trees! Lilli Pilli's grow all along our east coast and mountain streams.

We grow most of our own Lilli Pilli trees at Kurrajong 60km north west of Sydney where the two species are used to achieve the required flavour, colour and delicious cinnamon aroma. Often the trees fruit so heavily that their branches break but as with many native species some years they will not produce a single mature berry! You can see where we grow the berries, the yellow dot on the map, the red region is the natural range of the two Lilli Pilli's that we use.

Cultural History

Lilli pilli's were definitely an important tree for Aboriginal people all along the east coast. The sweet berries would have made a refreshing snack as they are crisp and very juicy when picked fresh.

They can also be dried and stored for a considerable time, used as a spice and flavouring for many different foods. The flowers were also used as a source of nectar and pollen and native bee's could be tracked from the flowering trees back to their nearby nests for some precious 'sugarbag' or native bee honey.

The fibrous inner bark of the tree could also be used to make string.

Left is a picture of our Lilli Pilli trees in fruit, Spectacular!