Melastoma affine

Aboriginal names: Dhumulu (Yolngu)

The Blue Tongue gets its name from its sweet, blue-black fruits that stain the mouth. It is known as Native Lasiandra, or as “Dhumulu” in the Yolngu language. In Australia, it can be found growing wild in the Kimberley region of WA, across the Northern Territory and Queensland, and as far south as Kempsey on the New South Wales coast.

Blue Tongue flowers continually throughout Spring and Summer, producing showy mauve to purple flowers that last just a few days before small black berries begin to appear. This sweet fruit is best eaten fresh, and berries can be picked and eaten directly off the shrub.

Blue Tongue grows fast, reaching up to 3m in height. It produces no nectar, but plenty of pollen, and will attract bees, hoverflies, and other valuable pollinators.

Useful links to further information

• Blue Tongue, Melastoma affine, Tucker Bush
• Melastoma affine – Blue Tongue, Gardening with Angus
• Are you planting a native Melastoma or an invasive weed?, Sunshine Coast Council
• Blue Tongue, Daleys