ASSOCIATION OF SOCIETIES FOR GROWING AUSTRALIAN PLANTS. AUSTRALIAN FOOD PLANTS STUDY GROUP ISSN 0811 5362. NEWSLETTER NUMBER 25, OCTOBER 1995. 323 Philp Ave., Frenchville. Qld. 4701. 31/10/95. Dear Members, The weatker is the current all-engrossing topic here, as I'm sure it-is in much of the rest of this "wide brow landU.of ours. Will there be a-Wet this year? We have experienced a few summer stc)rms, more noise than substance, so continue hopeful . The climatic contrasts within Australia were brought home to me afresh when I attended the ASGAP Conference in Ballarat last month. To watch from the plane window as the country changed beneath from bare'brown to lush green was a strange . experience! Then the further contrast between ground so damp that it "gave" underfoot and the drought-stressed Grarnpians was another surprise. .It certainly was a lesson in the dangers of pre-conceived ideas! The peculiarities of the weather aside, the Conference was a wonderful experience, and SGAP Victoria and their hard- working committee are deserving of the highest praise for their organisation. I found the Study Group Leaders ' Meeting of great value, and thoroughly enjoyed the program of lectures and excursions. Although a number of speakers touched 011 our particular field of interest, or mentioned food plants, the only one to specifically address our area of study was Graeme O'Neill in the A.J.Swaby Memorial Address entitled The Cornn~erc!ial Potential of Austr-aliar~~lar; ts . .> (Paradise ~lnclercor7strllctic~l1). Some notes on the particular section will be fotlnd later in this newsletter. Our Study Croup mounted a small static display consisting nlainly qf posters and charts on the Information Night, but t.he large crowd, crarnped cic~~idi.ti011s and encroachmen t of neighboring st-alls di-minished i. ts erfectiveness somewhat . Nevertheless, it did generate a great deal of i.nterest, and a 17u1nberof new members have jni 11cr2d as a result . As al.ways, t,he mc)s t positive part- (:)I? arly Cc~nferenceis the opportunil:y to rneet and talk wj.tIi pr?(.>ple f1:c)rn diverse hackgroi~ndswho share a comnlon .i.nt.e1:c:sI:, dlid tl1.i.s ~af;I?(:) esc:eptic)n. IC's 1c)vel.y to 13e able to I:ILI t r;lc:er; tc) nallles, dnd Lc) chat. i 11tr_)rmal ly ra tl~er tl~ar~WL--i te . Planning for the next Queensland Region ~onferencein Rockhampton in September 1996 continues. Our short info- presentation at the ASGAP Conference was well-received, and a large number of "expressions of interest" forms have been returned already. It is with sadness that I must record the death of Mrs. Brenda Holland of Port Augusta, one of our members. I must also comment on the tragedy that befell Oliver Carter (and Australian horticulture in general) when his nursery was vandalised by being sprayed with herbicide late last year. An article from the Toowoomba Clronicle is reprinted further on.,, along with edited extracts from Oliver's letter, to which I have already replied personally. I have also acted on his suggestion to contact Dr. Fletcher, and we are going to exchange newsletters and information. I hope to have further news for you regarding the situation at Manna Nursery next letter. Rocky SGAP's August excursion to check on our bit of Kershaw Gardens was not one of our best. A grey and bitterly cold day turning to drizzle proved too much for our thin tropical blood, and the outing was curtailed, though not before a heavy crop of Microcitrlas australasica was harvested for Anne McHugh to turn into delicious marmalade. To add insult to injury, that was the only rain for months! In mid October Ted and Anne McHugh and I took a small group of Year 9 Geography students from Emmaus College to investigate the Brigalow community on "Clear Water". They voted it a top day, and handed in some excellent field reports concentrating on plant adaptations. (But I wish I had a dollar for every t.irne a child asked, "Can you eat this?"!) With our very best wishes to you and yours for the coming Festive Season, Regards &%- ~enoFeLindsay and Rockhanipton S .G. A. P. NEW MEMBERS. Welcome to the following new members: Margie & Geoff BARNETT: 2 Fletcher Rd., Mt-Barker. S.A. 5251. Rob CONLEY: P.O. Box 351,' McLaren Vale. S .A. 5171. Christine DE RRENNI: "Brienne", Mt.McKenzie, P.O.Box 210, Angaston. S.A. 5353. Sue GRAY: RSD 413A, Oldina. Tas. 7325. Steve PROWSE: Australian Tropical Native Food Industries. P.O.Box 648, Gordonvale. Q. 4865. Krj.s SCHAFFER: Karchorns Hill, Neika. Tas. 7054. EDIBLE SPECIMENS TABLED AT MEETINGS: 28/7/95 : Acacia decora, A. podalyrii fol ia, Cl erodendrclm fl orihundum, Pl anchonia carreya, Leptosperrnum fl avescens, Melaleuca bracteata, and a number of Grevillea species and hybrids. 25/8/95: Acacia podalyriifolia, Scaevola calendulacea, and a host of ~rateaceaebrought along for the identification workshop. 22/9/95: Atalaya liemZgla~~ca,Dianella caerul ear Faradaya spl endida, Ficus opposi ta, Dodonaea viscosa, Ajuga australis (medicinal) . 27/10/95: Backhotrsia ci triodora, Lomandra longifolia, Syzygium luehmanii, S. wilsonii; Meleleuca spp., C1,.iri1~m peduncu.1atum (medicinal and possibly edible) . EXCURSIONS :* 16/7/95: Shoalwater Bay ~rmyReserve: An overview of a very small part of the reserve which is larger than the A.C.T., covering areas of open eucalypt forest, creekbank, mangroves, heath and softwood scrub. 6/8/95: Kershaw Gardens: Acacia aneura, A. farnesiana, Argusia argentea, Bracllychi ton bidwillii , Capparis .l ucida, Carissa ova tar Cy-cas media, Erytlirina vespertilio, Eucalyptus intermedia, Ficus racemosa, Ficus sp., .Grevillea banksii, a number of Hibiscus species, Lomandra sp., Marsilea hirsuta, assorted Me1a1 euca species, Microci trus australasica, Nauc-Zea orientalis, Pipturis argenteus, Sterculia quadrifida. 20/8/95: Capricorn Coast: A full day of Conference preparation spent investigating mangrove and littoral plant con~munitiesin the n~orning,and a number of possib1.e sites at Capricisri? International Resort in the afternoon. ?lost of the conlmoner species were noticed, but no detailed lists were kept. (That's for next year when the sites have been finalised.) 3/9/95: Byfield: This too was an exploratory outing t.o preview possible sites for one of next year's Conference excursions, and covered heath with Rhonda ?lelzer of D. E. H. and riparian rainforest. with Ernie Rider. Elaeocarpus eumundi was fruiting, and we found a few seeds of Rowe~lia serz-lil a La . ' 1/10/95: T11e Caves : Another exploratory outing to c-heck out hriyal.'ow and limestone plant communities in preparation for next year. The untouched briga1.o~with intact t.111del-s tory on "Clear Wa ter-" coi-rt,dined an incredib1.e variet.y c)f food plant.^, ' il~cluclincjCapparis spp. , Carissa ovata, Dioscor-ea transversa, Enchyl aena t'omen tnsa , Eremoci trus g.2 auca, Lysiphy.7 1!1m hnoh-erj , Pl-vnpc.>r-o~i,acilnlina t:rr/n, PI. dehil e, Order7ia acid1.1.1a. If accessilsil-it:y ~a-1111:)e a~:ranged, this spot is a beaut'! Manna Nursery. '8 Vanity Street, Toowoomba. Q. 4350. 18/4/95. Dear Lenore, Enclosed are a few small plants of Rubus muelleri, an Australian native. I hope you can make use of them. Also enclosed are seeds of Ipomoea muell eri and. Opercul ina brownii (including some ripened, fruit . This Ipomoea is.also known as "Poison Morning Glory", so called because it is reported to have poisoned grazing stock in'W.A. The seed enclosed is S.A.provenance, where the plant is not known to poison stock. The tuber of this plant was eaten by the first Australians. The Operculina is an edible plant known as "Bush Potatoes", and is from the "Top End". My plants are growing in 6 .or 8 inch pots, and appear to be a small, short-lived annual of about 3-4 months. Both the Convolvulaceae species have hard seed coats, especially 0. brownii. These must be chipped or they will'not germinate. I get round this difficulty by ,planting before the seed coat hardens at maturity. They - germinate then in only a few days. Could you enlighten me as to how or what part of this plant is/was eaten? Enclosed is a copy of "New Crops Newsletter" which is sent out free. I reckon you should he on this mailing list. I personally know Dr. Rob. Fletcher and declare he is a top guy, so would you write and ask to he put on the list? New Crops have put out a very reasonably priced book listing thousands of potential new crop plants.. I'm sure we could help by adding more native food plants to this list. Includid also is an article from the local paper about a criminal act perpetrated against me. Someone climbed-over .the security fence and sprayed most areas w'itli 2-4-5-T. About 1400 cuttings and thousands of potted plants were lost, also hundreds of experir(lenta1 research projects were lost. :L: J. * -C A11 well, of such is the world. I'll just carry on as best I am able. Keep up tl-IF-!exc:ellenl: ~c~rliyou are doing! Kj~ndestregards, Ol.iver Cai:t:er. 11 I wasn'l: al111.e I:(.) ~.~neart.l-1any c:olr~crete i~?fc)~lnat.io~-~in answer t I v ' s I I 0 oii - Perliaps snlneone else can hclp? (Ed.) Saturday, December 3,1994 THECHRONICLE Weekend Features Native bush "A1 of lhe current peach and ncctarlncs can bc lraccd lo orwal wild pcach varlcUcs stUl grou-ing In lsolalcd hllls In parcs of Chlna.