Kemp Killerby
from Fauna4Flora gave a very interesting talk on Australian Bush Foods. He
began with an overview including history, types of vegetation, benefits and
cultivation and included many anecdotes to illustrate his points.
There are
approximately 6,500 native Australian bush foods and there is increasing
interest in their further cultivation and use. The native foods industry is
growing and there are many benefits which include:
*Increasing
biodiversity
*Our fauna thrives
better with more natural vegetation. 70% of birds have a preference for native
plants.
*The plants
have evolved with the drought/flood cycle which is our normal climate so are
more likely to
survive. They are pollinated by a wide range
of insects and are more likely to be pest resistant.
*Some of these
plants are becoming good cash crops e.g. mulga. Many native crops do not
require a great
deal
in the way of high-tech farming or heavy machinery compacting the soil e.g.
wattleseed.
*Food security.
*Local produce
(low food miles) although there is also a growing export potential.
*Healthwise we benefit from fresh,
highly nutritious food.
The following
is a list of bush foods that Kemp spoke about which can be found in the greater
Toowoomba region. ‘Greater’ is a
vague description, my write-up concentrates on importance to wildlife,
aboriginal use and current use and not on plant descriptions.
·
Bunya pine Araucaria
bidwillii nuts, which resemble chestnuts, are eaten by sulphur crested
cockatoos and bush rats. The nuts are protein rich and a highly nutritional, traditional
food for aboriginal people who also ate the young shoots. Flour made from the
nuts is gluten free. The timber is valuable for furniture making, and also
guitars.
·
Gundabluie/Bardi Bush Acacia victoriae seeds and foliage are eaten by small animals and
birds. The seeds are a traditional
bushfood ground for flour and now can be used as a caffeine free coffee
substitute. The plant is good for
nitrogen fixing and soil stabilisation. Medical properties continue to be
researched, especially for cancer.
·
Illawarra plum Podocarpus elatus is bird and bee attracting and a host plant for quite
a number of butterflies. The fruit was
considered one of the best by indigenous peoples and early settlers – and currawongs.
It has a high Vitamin C content, seven times more than blueberries. The fruit
has two segments, a hard-inedible seed and large, fleshy purple-black berry
which may be eaten raw or made into jams and jellies.
·
Native ginger Alpinia caerulea is an evergreen attractive to insects and a haven
for the green tree frog. It is an
excellent plant to grow close to ponds. Traditionally it was used for medicine,
food and crafts. Roots were used as a
bush medicine to relieve congestion and for nausea and the fruits can be chewed
to moisten the mouth while bush walking. It is used as a spice and for herbal
tea. In the wild this plant is found in
rainforest under-storeys and is one of the dry rainforest plants that can be planted
as a firebreak because the ignition point of the leaves is about 400C and they
burn to dust.
·
Native rosella Hibiscus heterophyllus is an excellent plant for attracting
wildlife. Nectar feeding birds like honeyeaters are attracted to the flowers,
as are insects which in turn attract insect eating birds. The seeds are eaten
by other birds like lorikeets. Hibiscus harlequin bugs suck sap from the young
leaves. Traditionally, as well as a food source (all parts are edible), the
bark was used to make rope and string. The rosellas that we make into jam are
not native to Australia but are Hibiscus
sabdariffa, the fleshy calyx of which is used in the jam making process.
·
Riberry Syzygium
luehmannii (not endemic to this region but there are other Syzygiums)
attracts birds, fruit eating animals and native bees. The cinnamon tasting
fruit can be eaten raw and is also commonly used for making jams, syrup and
confectionary.
·
Long yam Dioscorea
transversa is a host plant for the black and white skipper butterfly and
hawk moth. Traditionally the tuber could be roasted or eaten raw and among the
medicinal uses some indigenous people used a decoction to apply topically to
skin cancers.
·
Native tamarind Diploglottis australis attracts many fruit eating birds (doves,
pigeons, green catbird, figbirds, bower birds, crimson rosellas, brush turkeys
etc), flying foxes and native bees. The Pale Green Triangle butterfly Graphium eurypylus sips nectar from the
fruit and the tamarind is a host plant for the Bright Cornelian butterfly Deudorix diovis. The aborigines valued
the fruit and it has a lot of food uses – eaten raw or in jams, chutneys,
refreshing drinks etc. It is also a fire-retardant shade tree.
·
Peanut tree Stercula
quadrifida has black seeds, high in protein, traditionally eaten raw or
roasted (once the paper-like skin is removed). The leaves and bark were used as
a bush medicine to treat wounds, eye complaints, bites and stings. The bark was
used for baskets, weaving and twine.
·
Round lime/Dooja/Gympie round lime Citrus australis is a host plant for a
number of swallowtail butterfly species. The fruit has a very intense flavour, a
high vitamin C content, and many uses in the kitchen
Further
reading:
Wild Food Plants of Australia by Tim Low (easy to read)
Grow Your Own Bushfood by Keith and Irene Smith
The Oldest Foods on Earth – A History of Australian Native Foods
with recipes by John Newton
Dark Emu: Black Seeds: Agriculture or Accident by Bruce
Pascoe (an Indigenous writer from the Bunurong
clan, of the Kulin nation)
Australian Bush Superfoods by Lily Alice and Thomas O’Quinn (good explanations)
Bush
Tucker Guide – Identify Australian plants and animals and learn how to cook
with them - Samantha Martin
