Aboriginal Uses for Native Plants Quiz

Answer: Moreton Bay Chestnut

Also known as the Black Bean, the Moreton Bay Chestnut is a large tree that is found along the coast of the states of Queensland and New South Wales. It produces beautiful red and yellow flowers before the large brown pods, each containing five chestnut type seeds, develop. Those seeds are poisonous if consumed as they are, but the Australian aboriginal people learned that if they were soaked under running water for a few days, they could then be roasted and consumed as is, or pounded into a flour which was used to make a form of damper.

Answer: Berrigan

The Berrigan, which grows all over Australia, is one of the species of trees known as the Emu Bushes. Growing approximately eighteen feet tall, it flowers in colours of red, orange, yellow and pink, before producing its juicy fruits. Australian aboriginal people used the fruit to treat colds and sores and as an eyewash.

Its nectar was gathered for its sweet taste. Its wood was used as nosepegs, and, in a type of initiation ceremony, it was also used to knock teeth out.

Answer: Painting

The Silver Banksia is found in the south-east parts of Australia and across Bass Strait into our island state of Tasmania. Aboriginal people soaked this flower in water and then drank the sweet drink that was obtained. They also used the base from which the tendrils grew as a form of strainer.

When the base of the plant was dried out, it was lit. As it took a long time to burn, and simply smouldered instead, it was used to carry small flames to light camp fires. The individual flowers on the base were also utilised to create fine lines in painting.

Answer: Magic

The black she-oak grows in most areas of Australia, not just along the coastal fringes as was once thought. It produces striking red flowers before it bears its distinctive cones. Those cones were used by the aboriginal people of Australia to make magic and for various medicinal purposes.

The cones, when freshly developed, could also be consumed as a tasty treat. The wood of the tree itself was used to make boomerangs, or weapons for warfare such as clubs and shields.

Answer: Chewing gum

Native to the south-east of Australia and Tasmania, the black wattle has been introduced to other parts of the world with disastrous results. It's proving to be one of the worst invasive species of plants ever introduced. However, in Australia, where it works beautifully in our environment, aboriginal people happily chewed its gum for hours.

They applied the bark to wounds and sores with remarkable effect. String was also manufactured from the bark. The wood didn't go to waste either. It was utilised to make small implements, tools and containers.

Answer: Native Cherry

Also known as the Cypress Cherry, and the Cherry Ballart, the Native Cherry tree ranges extensively from Queensland right down to Victoria and Tasmania. You won't find any on farmland though as it is poisonous to animals. Before it produces its fruit, this tree is covered in lovely very pale pink flowers. Australian aboriginal people used the stalk of the fruit as food.

The wood was used to make small carvings and to manufacture spear throwers and bullroarers, while the sap of the tree was used to combat snakebite.

Incidentally, a bullroarer was an instrument that was swung around in large circles until a loud roaring sound was produced. By modulating the swing, certain messages could be transmitted over remarkably long distances.

Answer: Chocolate Lily

The flowers of the Chocolate Lily come in colours ranging from pale lilac to deep purple. This plant grows to approximately one metre in height, and it has a scent that is either chocolate, caramel or vanilla. Australian aboriginal may have certainly appreciated the scent. However, it wasn't the flowers that were eaten, but the juicy tubers instead.

Answer: Cider Gum

The Cider Gum tree, with its tiny lemon flowers, can grow quite tall if allowed to get out of hand, but pruning will keep it to a nice sized bush instead. Not that aboriginal people pruned it. They allowed it to flourish naturally. With a thick bole, it was a source of a pleasurable drink. By boring holes in the trunk, its sap was allowed to collect, and then consumed. Sometimes, though, that sap could well and truly ferment, with an ensuing alcoholic result.

The Australian aboriginal people were so clever and knew so much of the world about them for over forty thousand years. Everything was on hand, everything was free, they worked hand in hand with nature. And then we came along.

Answer: Teething sticks

The Murray Pine, also known as the Slender Cypress Pine, is a species of tree that is only found in the land down under. It had a number of interesting uses by Australian aboriginals. They used the resin of the tree as a very strong glue, strong enough to hold stone onto wood in fact.

The wood was used to make woomeras, spears and parts of canoes, and small sticks from the tree were used for babies to chew on when they were teething. A woomera was the native word for a spear thrower.

Answer: Rheumatism medicine

The drooping she-oak is a small tree found in the south-east of Australia. The young cones of this tree were eaten by Australian aboriginal people for food. Its wood was used to make boomerangs. Its bark was boiled and the substance produced used as medicine for assorted illnesses.

The cones, when older, were ground up into powder and this was used to treat sores, and as a medicine for rheumatism for the older tribe medicines. This gentle people, with their ancient lore and wisdom, had so much to teach us if only we had listened.