1
A guide to some edible/useful (mostly) local species
References: Bush Heritage (Pat & Sim Symmons), Wild Food Plants & Wild Herbs (by Tim
Low), Wild Food & Wild Medicine (AB & JW Cribb)
COMMON NAME
SPECIES
Av. Ht
We
t f
ee
t
For
m
Fr
ost
Grow
th Rat
e
B
est
e
at
in
g
Win
d
b
re
ak
Sun
B
u
tt
er
fly
B
irds
Flowe
rs
Uses/Comments
Medicinal uses
Coastal / open forest species
Flat-Stemmed Wattle
Acacia complanata
2-4m
S
H
fast
x
wb
fs
f
x
Seeds eaten.
Inner bark used for twine
Black Wattle
Acacia concurrens
4-6m
S/T
M
fast
x
wb
fs
f
x
Young roots & seeds eaten.
Bark infusion for coughs. Wood for
spears, clubs, boomerangs & fibre
Hickory Wattle
Acacia disparrima
>10
T
L
fast
x
wb
fs
f
x
Seeds & gum eaten.
Wood used for boomerangs & clubs
Brisbane Golden
Wattle
Acacia fimbriata
4-6m
S
M
fast
x
wb
fs
f
S
x
Seeds & gum eaten.
Early-flowering Black
Wattle
Acacia leiocalyx
1-6
o
S
fast
x
wb
fs
f
x
Seeds & gum eaten.
Coastal Wattle
Acacia sophorae
2-4m
S
H
fast
x
wb
fs
f
x
Good quality edible seed. Mostly eaten
roasted green in pods
Many other Acacia species have edible seeds & gum and are a source of fibre.
Coastal She-oak
Allocasuarina littoralis
6-8m
L
not edible
fs
S/N
Gum soaked in warm water to make a
jelly
Leaf infusion antifungal
Sea Celery
Apium prostratum
<1m
H
fs
Celery flavoured leaves
can be eaten
fresh or cooked
Midyim
Austromyrtus dulcis / glabra
1m
S
H
slow
x
fs/ps
F
Sweet berries (White with purple
spots). Aromatic seeds eaten
Banksia
Banksia (integrifolia/aemula/oblongifolia/spinulosus/robur)
wb
fs
N
Flowers steeped in water for nectar
drink.
Apple Berry
Billardiera scandens
1m
V
slow
ps
F
Mature fruit edible raw.
Swamp Waterfern
Blechnum indicum
<1
x
F
N
slow
x
ps/sh
Important
food source for edible
rhizome. Pounded into flour
Likes boggy soil.
Kurrajong
Brachychiton populneus
>10m
T
fast
fs/ps
f
Seeds eaten (once hairs are removed).
Tuberous roots eaten
Fibre source. Trunks bear water - can
be tapped. Deciduous
Bribie Island Pine
Callitris columellaris
>10m
T
not edible
wb
fs
S
Not edible.
Leaves & twigs for colds & skin
irritations. Resin for glue. Wood for
spears & roots for boomerangs.
Native Caper
Capparis canescens
3-6m
S
slow
fs/ps
f
F
x
Ripe fruit eaten raw
Pigface
Carpobrotus glaucescens
<1m
H
fs
x
Fruits eaten raw & leaves roasted -
pleasant salty taste
Crushed leaves used to treat bites,
stings & burns (sunburn)
Native Yam
Dioscorea transversa
V
V
N
x
ps
Tubers eaten
Winter Apple
Eremophila deblis
<1m
H
slow
fs/ps
Mature fruit eaten raw.
Gum Trees
Eucalyptus species
>10m
T
fast
wb?
fs
n
N
x
Not edible.
Host to many food sources
(eg. possum, koala, bees, lerps, grubs) .
Bloodwoods used as nectar source.
Gum to treat diarrhea & fill tooth
cavities. Wood for spears & clubs.
Some stringybarks eg Tallowwood for
canoes & shelters.
Sword Grass
Gahnia aspera / clarkei / sieberiana
1-2m
x
G/SE
fs
f
Seed can be ground into flour. Leaf
bases chewed
Dogs Balls
Grewia latifolia
1m
S
fs/ps
F
Sweet, scant flesh eaten raw
Root infusion for diarrhea. Pounded
leaves applied to cuts
Samphire
Halosarcia indica / pergranulata
<1m
x
H
x
fs
Succulent stems crisp & salty
False Sarsparilla
Hardenbergia violacea
V
V
fs/ps
x
Purple flowers eaten raw
Cotton Tree
Hibiscus tiliaceus
6m
S/T
fast
wb
fs
x
Important fibre plant
Inner bark infusion used to wash
wounds/bark used to wrap wounds
Nut Lily
Hypoxis sp
<1m
o
L
slow
fs/ps
x
Tubers eaten raw.
2
COMMON NAME
SPECIES
Av. Ht
We
t f
ee
t
For
m
Fr
ost
Grow
th Rat
e
B
est e
at
in
g
Win
d
b
re
ak
Sun
B
u
tt
er
fly
B
irds
Flowe
rs
Uses/Comments
Medicinal uses
Coastal / open forest species continued
Goats Foot
Ipomea pes-caprae
<1m
V
fs
Tuber /
taproot eaten roasted after
removing outer layers.
Leaves heated & applied to
wounds/stings/bites or for muscular
pain (heat pack)
Dogwood
Jacksonia scoparia
2-3m
S
fast
wb
fs/ps
x
Trunk cut & gum exudation eaten at certain times of the moon
Heaths
Leucopogon sp
1-3m
S
slow
fs
F
Small fruits eaten
Cabbage Palm
Livistona australis/decora
>10m
x
P
ps
Palm heart eaten. Palm killed in process
Swamp Box
Lophostemon suaveolens
>10m
x
T
H
fast
not edible
f
N
Not edible
Bark used for canoes & shelters
Paperbark
Melaleuca quinquinervia
>10m
x
T
H
fast
wb
fs
N
x
Nectar source. Bark used for
huts/raincoat/tinder/bedding/cooking
etc (nature’s esky)
Leaves were chewed & crushed &
sniffed for colds.
Bottlebrushes
Melaleuca species come in many shapes and forms. Flowers are a good
source of nectar flowers can be sucked or soaked in water in a picci
(container from base of Piccabeen Palm frond), and drunk fresh or fermented
into alcohol.
S/T
Blue tongue
Melastoma affine
2m
x
S
N
fast
fs/ps
f
F
x
Mature fruit eaten raw.
Native mint /
pennyroyal
Mentha diemenica / saturioides
H
fs/ps
Leaves
aromatic
May have medicinal properties
Screw Pine
Pandanus tectorius
4-6m
S/T
fs\ps
Fruit roasted to extract edible seeds.
Fruit eaten cooked in small quantities
Fibre for baskets
Flag Iris's
Patersonia sericea / fragilis / glabrata
L
fs
x
Rhizome eaten
Geebung
Persoonia stradbrokensis / virgata
S
fs/ps
F
Edible fruits - like sweet
cotton wool
Hard plant to germinate.
Shrubby Pine
Podocarpus spinulosus
2m
S
x
wb
fs
Mature fruit edible raw.
Pigweeds
Portulaca australis / oleracea
H
fs/ps
Leaves eaten raw. Roots cooked & seeds ground & roasted into cakes.
Bracken Fern
Pteridium esculentum
1m
F
H
fs/ps
H
Young shoots eaten. Rhizomes pounded
& roasted into cakes
Juice from young fronds used to
relieve bites & stings
Scaevola
Scaevola calendulacea
<1m
H
fs
f
x
Mature black fruit eaten raw.
Warrigal Greens
Tetragonia tetragonioides
<1m
H
x
fs
Leaves edible when cooked (popular
European vegetable).Annual.
Fringed Lily
Thysanotus tuberosus
<1m
L
slow
fs/ps
x
Tubers eaten (raw or pounded and
roasted)
Native Bluebells
Wahlenbergia sp
<1m
slow
fs/ps
x
Blue flowers eaten raw
Grass Trees
Xanthorrhoea johnsonii / fulva / latifolia
2-4m
G/SE
slow
fs
N
Edible nectar, seeds & leaf bases. Grubs
in trunk base
Source of resin/flower spikes used in
firemaking. Resin heated & used as
glue (a traded item)
Waters edge
King Fern
Angiopteris evecta
2-3m
x
F
ps
Frond stems up to 6m long are filled
with edible starch. Probably best
cooked into cakes
Very rare in the wild in SEQ -
harvest from cultivated specimens
only
Swamp Waterfern
Blechnum indicum
<1
x
F
N
slow
x
ps/sh
Important food source for edible
rhizome. Likes boggy soil.
Rainforest Spinach
Elatostema reticulatum
<1m
H
ps/sh
Leaves eaten. Best when cooked.
Creek Mat Rush
Lomandra hystrix
1m
x
G/SE
H
wb
fs/ps
f
Edible leaf stalk bases. Good edge plant
Leaves used for dillies & bandages
Long Mat Rush
Lomandra longifolia
1.2m
x
G/SE
H
wb
fs/ps
f
Edible leaf stalk bases. Good edge plant
Leaves used for dillies & bandages
Warrigal Greens
Tetragonia tetragonioides
<1m
H
x
fs
Leaves edible when cooked (popular
European vegetable).Annual.
In the water
Clubrush
Bolboshoenus fluvialatis
1m
x
G/SE
fs/ps
Edible corms eaten raw or pounded &
baked
Applied for burns or lesions -
poultice?
Water Chestnut
Eleocharis dulcis
1m
x
G/SE
x
fs
H
Delicious edible tubers. Best in about
200mm of water.
Water Lillies
Nympheaea species
-
x
fs/ps
x
Edible tubers, seeds, flowers & stalks
3
COMMON NAME
SPECIES
Av. Ht
We
t f
ee
t
For
m
Fr
ost
Grow
th Rat
e
B
est e
at
in
g
Win
d
b
re
ak
Sun
B
u
tt
er
fly
B
irds
Flowe
rs
Uses/Comments
Medicinal uses
Water Ribbons
Triglochin procera
1m
x
fs/ps
Tuber eaten raw or roasted
Bulrush
Typha orientalis / domingensis
2m
x
G/SE
fast
fs
H
Underground stems contain gluten for
flour (roasted). Flowers spikes eaten
raw or cooked. New shoots eaten raw
Rainforest margins
Blackwood
Acaia melanoxylon
>10m
o
T
H
fast
wb
fs/ps
f
F
x
Gum eaten. Seeds eaten ground - highly
nutritious.
Twigs & bark used as a fish poison?
Soap Tree / Red Ash
Alphitonia excelsa
>10m
T
L
fast
not edible
f
S
x
Not edible.
Used for soap. Leaves
rubbed in water to stun fish.
Leaf tips chewed for upset stomach.
Linament of leaves & twigs muscular
pains - gargled for toothache
Cinnamon Myrtle
Backhousia myrtifolia
3-5m
S
L
slow
x
wb
fs/ps
x
Aromatic leaves . Good Bay Leaf
substitute
Wood used for axehandles.
Little Kurrajong
Brachychiton bidwillii
3-6m
S
fast
fs/ps
x
Seeds eaten (after hairs are removed)
Coast Canthium
Cyclophyllum coprosmoides
5-10m
S/T
slow
fs/ps
F
Mature fruit eaten raw.
Flax Lilies
Dianella sp
<1m
L
L
slow
ps
F?
Caution -
Mature blue / purple fruit
eaten raw, but only in small quantities
(can cause dizziness). Roots pounded &
roasted