Medicinal Uses

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Fruit | Edible Uses: CoffeeFruit - raw or cooked[173]. Sweet, but with little flavour[225]. The pale to deep violet-blue fruit is about 8mm wide[200, 225]. The roasted seed is an excellent coffee substitute[153].

Cultivation

Requires a moist, very well-drained neutral to slightly acid soil in full sun or light shade[200]. An easily grown plant, it succeeds in most soils[225]. Somewhat intolerant of frost, this species is only likely to succeed outdoors in the milder areas of Britain[11, 200]. Another report says that it is fully hardy in Britain[225]. It flowers freely in Britain, fruiting heavily if pollinated[225]. A polymorphic species, it hybridizes freely with other members of this genus[200, 225]. Plants are tolerant of heavy clipping or pruning[225]. Plants are normally dioecious, though in some species the plants produce a few flowers of the opposite sex before the main flowering and a few hermaphrodite flowers are sometimes produced[225]. Male and female plants must usually be grown if seed is required.

Known Hazards

None known

Habitats

Damp places[11]. Gravelly places throughout New Zealand[225].