A CHECKLIST OF NATIVE PLANTS REPORTEDLY EDIBLE t C~nlpiledby Rodney Barlter for the Australian Foocf Plant Study Group of the Society for Growing Australian Plants A CHECKLIST OF NATIVE PLANTS REPORTEDLY EDIBLE Compiled by Rodney Barker for the Australian Food Plant Study Group of the Society for Growing Australian Plants A CHECKLIST OF NATIVE PLANTS REPORTEDLY EDIBLE Compiled by Rodney Barker for the Australian Food Plant Study Group of the Society for Growing Australian Plants Page 3 Thanks to June for her love and devotion, with every good wish from the author. First Edition Printed 1991 by The Australian Food Plant Study Group ISBN ???????? (c) 1991 by Rodney Barker Page 4 u A CHECKLIST OF NATIVE PLANTS REPORTEDLY EDIBLE CONTENTS Introduction Definition of Terms Plant List Summary Information Bibliography Data Collection Sheets Cover illustration from J.B. Cleland Ecology, Environment and Diseases" in Cotton, B.C. (Ed.) 1966 ABORIGINAL MAN IN SOUTH AND CENTRAL AUSTRALIA 1:111-158 Government Printer, Adelaide Page 5 INTRODUCTION If I have seen further..., it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. - Sir Isaac Newton (late 17th Century) Purpose: This is a compilation of citations about edible Australian native plants. It is intended to be used for assisting with literature searches on uses of Australian plants. If there is sufficient interest, I may follow it up with lists of other uses of Australian plants. I originally commenced compiling this list to aid my own investigations, and started with a paper- based system. However, the difficulty of cross-referencing plant names made me develop a computer-based listing, which I then thought would be of interest to other Study Group members (& possibly even others). Limitations: I have attempted to be as thorough as possible, so have not excluded citations that appear to be erroneous. I would suggest that, in general, the older the reference, the more "suspect" is the accuracy of the botanical identification. If you eat a plant on this list and die, don't blame me ! This is a guide to assist literature searches only. No-one has checked it, and my typing is not all it could be. It will take a lot of feedback before all the (inevitable) errors are weeded out. In the meantime, use the list to find the original source about the edibility of a plant, and evaluate for yourself the likely accuracy of that information source. Synonyms: I admit that I probably have gone overboard in this respect, by listing synonyms that would be very unlikely to be encountered. However, it is very frustrating when you do a lot of research into an edible plant, only to find out that you have all the same material already, under a different name. Hence, I do not really apologise for my "overkill" - it serves a purpose (if only the State Herbaria kept up-to-date plant lists !). Note that I also have included cases of confusion of species and misidentification, which did not involve actual changes of the botanical names of plants. You will need to refer to the original sources to sort all of these out. Acknowledgements: As the quotation at the top of the page is meant to suggest, I would not have been able to compile this list without the Herculean efforts of other researchers. The Page 6 two major sources that inspired this effort were the Cribbs book, and the thesis of Wendy Beck. Many thanks to them, and the many other researchers consulted. Further Editions: As further information comes to light, I will publish updates to this listing. Major changes in plant naming can be expected as a result of the on-going publication of the Flora of Australia. Also, I will attempt to incorporate members' experiences into the listing. With this in mind, 1 have appended a "Data Collection Sheet" to this publication. Would anyone who has experienced eating plants not on the list (preferably without ill-effects) please return a copy of the "Data Collection Sheet" giving full details. Also, if you come across any literature about Australian plants being edible, that are not in the list, could you complete and return a copy of the sheet. This will probably be the only free copy issued. The reason it is free is that I'm hoping to be overwhelmed by contributions from Study Group members. Contributors to the next edition could reasonably expect a complimentary revised copy. Page 7 DEFINITION OF TERMS PLANTS The name of the plant (genus, species & authority). If the citation is for an entire genus (or family), the entry is written with the genus (or family) name followed by the letters "spp." SYNONYMS Has a value of "Y" if you are refered to another name. Where an entry occupies several lines, has the values "I", "2",etc. to indicate this. FAMILY Uses a 3 digit code of the National Herbarium, Melbourne. If not known, blank. PART The part of the plant that was eaten. Preferably use a separate entry for each different part eaten, but if the same references cite the same parts eaten, can have up to three parts eaten per entry. Valid codes are: A Algae B Bark F Fruit (i.e. fleshy covering of seed) G Green (leaf, shoot, stem, pith, bud) L fLower M guM or sap N Nectar 0 Other (miscellaneous) P Pollen R Root, tuber, rhizome, etc. (underground storage organ) S Seed U fungi part only eaten 3 not recorded/unknown Page 8 PREP How the edible part was prepared prior to eating. Acceptable codes are: B Boiled (i.e. cooked in water) C Complex D Drink (prepared as a beverage) M Multi-step (between simple & complex) R Roasted, baked or cooked (not necessarily in water) S Steamed - raw ? not recordedlunknown PLACE The natural distribution of the plant. The codes are: A found in all Australian states C Central Australia M found in all Mainland states N New South Wales Q Queensland S South Australia T Tasmania V Victoria W Western Australia Z Northern Territory PER The source of the reference to the edibility of the plant. Uses a 2 character code. The acceptable codes are: A1 Altman 1986 B1 Beck 1985 82 Brock 1988 83 Bodkin Page 9 C1 Cane et all979 C2 Crawford 1982 C3 Cribb & Cribb 1985 C4 Cribb & Cribb 1985 C5 Cherikoff & lsaacs 1989 El Elliot & Jones F1 Floyd 1989 GI Gott 1985 I1 lsaacs 1987 J1 Ed. Jones 1985 52 Jones 1986 J3 Jones & Gray 1988 54 Jones ? (Palms) 55 Jones & Clemesha 1981 J6 Ed. Jessop L1 Langevad 1983 L2 Latz 1982 L3 Lawrence 1968 L4 Leiper 1983 L5 Levitt 1981 L6 Low 1988 L7 Low 1989 M1 Maiden 1889 M2 Meagher 1974 M3 MacDonald & Westerman 01 Oates 1977 02 Oates & Seeman 1979 S1 Scarlett 1985 S2 Smyth 1878 S3 Specht 1958 W1 Winfield 1982 Y1 Young Refer to the Bibliography for the full details of these references. Page 10 PLANT LIST Some sort of quote to the effect that, it doesn't matter if the name is current or not, so long as it is readliy identified and referenced. - someone or other at Herbarium (3) With this in mind, I have decided to follow the names used by Elliot and Jones, unless there is a good reason not to do so. Please give me feedback on any errors, or questionable entries, and especially on any additions to the list that you can make - refer to the "Data Collection Sheets" at the end of this work. Page 11 belmoschus ficulneus (L.) Wight & Am. belmoschus manihot (L.) Medicus - Page 1 - Acacia hemignosta F. Muell. Acacia holosericea A. Cunn. ex G. Don Acacia holosericea var pubescens - see A. pellita Schwartz Acacia homalophylla A. Cunn. ex Benth. - see A. ornalophylla Acacia implexa Benth. Acacia impressa F. Muell. - see A. monticola J.M. Black Acacia incurva Benth. Acacia irrovata Sieb. - see A. dealbata Link. Acacia jennerae Maiden Acacia kempeana F. Muell. Acacia latescens Benth. Acacia leptocarpa A. Cunn. ex Benth. Acacia leptopetala Benth. - see A. murrayana F. Muell. Acacia ligulata A. Cunn. ex Benth. Acacia linophylla W. V. Fitzg. Acacia longifolia var. sophorae F. Muell. - see A. sophorae Acacia longifolia (Andrews) Willd. Acacia luerssenii Domin - see A. tenuissima F. Muell. Acacia lysiphloia F. Muell. Acacia macdonnelliensis Maconochie Acacia maitlandii F. Muell. Acacia rnangium Willd. Acacia rnangium var holosericea - see A. holosericea A. Cunn. Acacia maritima Benth. Acacia mearnsii De Wild. Acacia melanoxylon R. Br. Acacia melleodora Pedley - see A. dictyophleba F. Muell. Acacia microbotyra Benth. Acacia mollisima Willd. - see A. rnearnsii De Wild. (in part) Acacia rnonticola J. M. Black Acacia murrayana F. Muell. ex Benth Acacia myrtifolia (Smith) Willd. Acacia normalis - see A. decurrens (Wendl.) Willd. Acacia notabilis F. Muell. ' Acacia olgana Maconochie :. ~caciaomalophylla Cunn. ex Benth. - Acacia oswaldii F. Muell. Acacia o'shanesii F. Muell. & Maiden Acacia pachyacra Maiden & Blakely Acacia pallida F. Muell. Acacia patens F. Muell. - see A. maitlandii F. Muell. Acacia pellita 0.Schwartz Acacia platycarpa F. Muell. Acacia podalyriifolia A. Cunn. ex G. Don Acacia pycnantha Benth. Acacia pyrifolia DC. Acacia ramulosa W. V. Fitzg. Acacia retinodes Schldl. Acacia rivalis J. M. Black - Page 2 - Acacia rostellifera Benth. Acacia salicina Lindley Acacia saligna (Labill.) H.H. Wendl. Acacia sclerosperrna F. Muell. Acacia sentis F. Muell.- see A. victoriae Benth. Acacia sericophylla F. Muell. - see A. coriacea DC Acacia sibirica S. Moore - see A. kernpeana F. Muell. Acacia sophorae (Labill.) R. Br. Acacia spectabilis A. Cunn. ex Benth. Acacia stenophylla A. Cunn. ex Benth. Acacia stipuligera F. Muell. Acacia stricta (Andrews) Willd. Acacia suaveolens (Srn.) Willd. Acacia tenuissima F. Muell. Acacia terrninalis (Salisb.) Macbr. Acacia tetragonophylla F.