ASSOCIATION OF SOCIETIES FOR GROWING AUSTRALIAN PLANTS. AUSTRALIAN FOOD PLANTS STUDY GROUP. ISSN O811 5362. ______________________________________________________________________ NEWSLETTER NUMBER 55. DECEMBER 2008. ______________________________________________________________________ 323 Philp Ave Frenchville Qld. 4701 19/12/2008 Dear Members and subscribers, Well, Spring well and truly sprung, and after the coldest winter for years, we almost missed it and went straight into Summer. And Summer we are having!! Very, very hot; very, very humid; quite like old times actually. The air is heavy, everything is green, and the grass grows as you watch. A word of warning: DON'T plant Cheeky Yam ( Dioscorea bulbifera ) in your home garden unless you have both an enormous amount of room, and plan to eat an enormous amount of the vegetable. In the current conditions it has resurrected itself and taken off with a vengeance, choking and smothering everything nearby, and eradicating it is proving very difficult indeed. The cold winter resulted in a bumper crop of raspberries ( Rubus probus ) which was very welcome after the poor harvests of the previous couple of years, and both types of native violets (Viola hederacea, H.betonifolia ) thrived. The flowers have made an interesting addition to salads. I have actually been given a jar of French Violet Petal jam, which is delicately flavoured and perfumed, but I haven't got round to trying my hand at jam making with the native ones yet. We found the best Sandpaper Fig ( Ficus opposita ) fruit we've tasted for years at our SGAP breakup on 7 th December, at the park out at Cammoo Caves. The barred caves and walks are now part of The Caves National Park. The large Fig tree is right at the edge of the picnic area, and it was heavily laden with large - a little smaller than a ping pong ball - black fruit, with a soft, sweet, green interior. Even the birds had not succeeded in stripping the tree, but we managed to pick and eat most of the reachable ripe fruit during the course of the afternoon, leaving the green fruit crowded along the branches a bit more room to develop. As part of our very slow and never-ending garden tidy up we had to remove a seedling Peanut Tree ( Sterculia quadrifida ) that had been growing undetected for a couple of years. To my surprise, it had a 1 well-developed tap root like a very large brown carrot. The cream coloured flesh was very juicy and crisp, but not as hard as a carrot, and with more liquid. I couldn't find any information about edibility or otherwise, but most species of the related Brachychiton genus can be used as emergency sources of water and many are edible, so I gave it a go. No discernable smell, pleasant texture, but unfortunately, it tasted unpleasant. Not gag and spit it out unpleasant or acrid burning, but not nice. So, emergency survival only. Ernie Rider sent copies of two recently published papers on new species. The first, from Bean and Albrecht, is Solanum succosum , closely allied to S.chippendalei but, unlike its highly valued cousin, not apparently regarded as edible by the Aborigines, and found in the Northern Territory and Queensland. However, the detailed descriptions, differentiation characteristics and ethnobotany of both species is very useful. The second, by Guymer, describes Capparis batianoffii , found in the very restricted habitat of Gloucester Island off the Central Queensland coast. However, the fruit has not been seen, though as other species of Capparis are edible, it probably is too. A reminder also, that the ASGAP Biennial Conference and Seminar is scheduled for September 2009 in Geelong. Study groups have been invited to mount displays there. However, I will not be attending the Conference due to other commitments, so if there is anyone who would be willing to put one together there for the Food Plant Study Group, I'd love to hear from you. The months have flown past, and as usual, I seem to have too much to do in too little time. So I'll close by wishing you all the best for the Christmas Season and the coming year. Regards, Lenore Lindsay and Rockhampton SGAP. E-mail: [email protected] ______________________________________________________________________ EDIBLE SPECIMENS TABLED AT MEETINGS: 27/6/08: Acronychia laevis, Alectryon tomentosus, Arytera divaricata, Bridelia leichhardtii, Cupaniopsis anacardioides (fruits) , Callistemon polandii, Lysiphyllum hookeri (nectar) , Diospyros humilis, D.geminata, Eugenia reinwardtiana, Lysiana filifolia, L.maritima, Murraya ovatifoliolata (fruits) , Orthosiphon aristartus (medicinal) , Phaius australis (tubers) , Pouteria pohlmaniana, P.sericea (fruit) , Sterculia quadrifida (seeds), Trophis scandens (arils) . 25/7/08: Amyema bifurcata, A.cambadgei, A.congener, A.conspicua, A.miquellii, A.pendula, A.mackayense, A.quandang, Amylotheca dictyophleba, Callistemon "Tinaroo Falls" (nectar) , Dendropthoe glabrescens, D.vitellina, Eugenia reinwardtiana, Dianella sp, Diplatia 2 furcata, Diospyros geminata (fruit) , Ficus sp (fruit, shoots, medicinal sap), Geijera paniculata (medicinal) , Grewia latifolia (fruit) , Hibiscus heterophyllus (buds, flowers, shoots, roots), Lysiana filifolia, L.maritima, L.subfalcata, Notothixos incanus, N.subaureus, Viscum articulatum, V.bancroftii, V.whitei (fruit). 22/8/08: Alectryon tomentosus, Arytera divaricata (fruit), Callistemon "Cameo Pink", C. "Cherry Time" , C.viminalis Bob's Creek (nectar), Diospyros geminata (fruit) , Grevillea "Honey Gem", G." Peaches and Cream", G. "Strawberry Blonde", G.venusta (nectar) , Leptospermum polygalifolium "Cardwell", L.polygalifolium Byfield (leaves as tea) , Livistona decora (palm "cabbage") , Prostanthera incisa (2 forms), P.lasianthus (leaves). 26/9/08: Acacia cambagei (gum), Callistemon viminalis, C. "Tinaroo", Melaleuca sp., M.dealbata (nectar), Santalum lanceolatum (fruit), Geijera parviflora (medicinal). 24/10/08: Acacia decora (gum) , Backhousia citriodora (leaves) , Brachychiton bidwillii (seeds) , Callistemon sp. (nectar), Capparis lasiantha (fruit) , Cassia brewsteri var tomentella (seeds and pulp) , Cymbidium canaliculatum (pseudobulbs) , Dianella caerulea, Diospyros humilis (fruits) , Ficus opposita (fruit, shoots, medicinal sap) , Grevillea banksii (nectar) , Grewia latifolia (fruit) , Hibiscus heterophyllus pink and yellow forms (buds, flowers, shoots, roots), Lomandra longifolia (leaf bases) , Lysiphyllum hookeri (nectar) , Nauclea orientalis, Planchonia careya, Pleiogynum timorense, Pouteria pohlmaniana, P.queenslandicus (fruits) , Sterculia quadrifida (seeds) , Syzygium australe, S.luehmannii (fruit). 28/11/08: Brachychiton bidwillii (seeds) , Melaleuca leucadendra (nectar) , Orthosiphon aristartus, Petalostigma triloculare (medicinal). ______________________________________________________________________ EXCURSIONS: 1/6/08: Tondoon Eco-Fest: Rockhampton SGAP members supported Gladstone SGAP in their big display/demonstration tent. 6/7/08: Serpentenite vegetation at Mt Wheeler and Thompson's Point: Alpinia cerulea (fruit, roots) , Callistemon polandii (nectar) , Rubus moluccana (fruit) , Wahlenbergia communis (flower) , Lomandra confertifolia, L.longifolia, L.multiflora, Xanthorrhea johnsonii (leaf bases). 3/8/08: Frenchman's Creek Public Workshop in conjunction withGreening Australia: Callistemon viminalis, Melaleuca fluviatilis (nectar) , Pleiogynum timorense, Syzygium australe, Diospyros humilis (fruit) , Ficus opposita (fruit, shoots, medicinal sap) , Cycasophiolitica, Macrozamia miquellii (treated seeds). 7/9/08: Coconut Point, Zilzie, with Emu Park Community Bushcare: Sarcocornia quinqueflora, Suaeda australis, Sesuvium portulacastrum (leaves) , Carpobrotus glaucescens (fruit, leaves), Myoporum acuminatum (fruit), Avicennia marina (cooked seeds), Cupaniopsis anacardioides (fruit). 3 5/10/08: Canoona: Alectryon connatus, A.subdentatus, A.tomentosus, Acronychia laevis, Diospyros geminata, D.humilis, Carissa ovata, Bridelia leichhardtii, Drypetes australasica, Grewia latifolia, Myoporum acuminatum, Cyclophyllum coprosmoides (fruits), Acacia disparrima (root), A.decora (gum), A.holosericea (seed), Ficus opposita (fruit, shoots, medicinal sap), Hibiscus sp.(Glen Geddes), H.heterophyllus, H.splendens (buds, flowers, shoots, roots), Geijera salicifolia (medicinal), Lantana camara*, Planchonia careya, Psychotria loniceroides, Psydrax odorata, Rapanea variabilis, Dianella sp., D.rara (fruits), Petalostigma pubescens (medicinal), Eustrephus latifolius (tubers, arils), Gahnia aspera (seeds). 2/11/08: "Coominglah", Baralaba with Baralaba Landcare: Acacia farnesiana, A.salicina, A.stenophylla (seeds) , Alectryon connatus, A.diversifolius, Capparis canescens, C.loranthifolia, Carissa ovata, Citrus glauca, Diospyros humilis, Gossia bidwillii (fruits), Brachychiton australis, B.rupestris (seeds, roots, shoots, mucilage from wood), Clerodendrum floribundum (root), Ficus opposita (fruit, shoots, medicinal sap), Hibiscus heterophyllus (buds, flowers, shoots, roots), Geijera parviflora (medicinal), Lysiphyllum hookeri (nectar) , Eucalyptus camaldulensis, E.coolabah (seeds), E.exserta (nectar, leaves for flavouring & medicinal), Melaleuca linariifolia, M.trichostachya (nectar), Pouteria cotonifolia, Psydrax odorata, Santalum lanceolatum, Capparis lasiantha (fruit), Cissus opaca (tuber), Tetragonia tetragonioides, Einadia hastata (cooked leaves), Wahlenbergia sp. (flowers), Amyema congener, Dianella caerulea (fruit), Opuntia tomentosa (fruit, pads), Cymbidium canaliculatum (pseudobulbs) , Lomandra longifolia