Using Toxic Native Australian Plants Quiz

Answer: All are correct.

The Grey Mangrove grows from three to eight metres high. It has light-grey bark made up of thin brittle flakes. The Australian Aboriginal eat the seeds from the White mangrove after special preparation to remove the toxins.

Answer: Aged for a few days till soft and mellow.

This plum is picked from a tree that grows in Northern Queensland and Papua New Guinea. It is high in antioxidants and related to the mango.
Aborigines often bury them in the ground to help with the ripening process.
While they can be eaten raw, today they are often made into jams or jellies.

Answer: All methods are needed to remove the toxins.

The seeds from the Castanospermum australe, known as the Black-Bean Tree or the Moreton Bay Chestnut, are toxic to humans and animals, but are eaten by the Australian Aborigines after considerable preparation. The cracked seeds are soaked in running water for several days, then pounded and made into a cakes which are roasted. Each step is required to ensure the toxins are removed. If eaten with out preparation, the seeds can cause severe diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal pain and dizziness
The seeds are believed to contain alkaloids which have anti-HIV and anti -cancer properties.
The wood from the tree is used extensively.

Answer: Buried them in mud for several months

The Bunya Pine grows naturally in a small area of Southern Queensland. The cones develop on a mature tree every three years between January and March. A mature tree would produce many cones weighing up to 8kgs, containing up to 100 nuts per cone. The Bunya nut can be eaten raw or roasted, but to improve the taste and preserve the nut the local aboriginals buried the nut in mud for several months.

Answer: Austral Indigo bush.

Austral Indigo bush is one of several bushes or trees used by Aboriginals to stun fish. The poison obtained by crushing the roots of the Austral Indigo bush affect the fish or eels but not the people eating the fish. The bark when boiled also produces a purple dye.

Answer: Roasted the spores cases before pounding them.

The spore cases from the Nardoo plant contain thiaminase, which prevents Thiamine being absorbed and causes Berri-Berri. The Aboriginals had given prepared Nardoo to Burke and Wills' party. The group then collected and prepared the Nardoo by grounding it into a powder then mixing it with water to make a thin gruel as they had seen the Aborigines do.

They didn't realise that the Aborigines roasted the spore cases before they ground it to make the gruel. The roasting removesthe enzyme, which prevents thiamine being absorbed.

Answer: Picking them from the ground after they had ripened and fallen from the shrub.

Aboriginals collected the fruit from the ground after it had ripened and fallen from the 4m high shrubs. The fruits turned bright orange to red when ripe, often with the pods splitting. Un-ripened Kangaroo Apples are toxic. In Tasmania the Aborigines would pick the fruit and bury the fruit in sand heaps till they ripened.

Answer: All are correct

The Broad Leaf Melaleuca tree has a wide distribution from southern New South Wales to Cape York. Aboriginals used it for treating minor pain by chewing or making a tea from the new leaves. The bark was also used to line sleeping mats, baby cradles and to plug holes in canoes.

The bark acted like aluminum when food was wrapped in it before cooking. The Broad Leaf Melaleuca was imported into Florida and has become a pest, invading the Everglades. In 1992 the species was placed on the United States Department of Agriculture's Federal Noxious Weed List.

In its native Australia the tree isn't invasive.

Answer: Toothache.

The Bunaangu (Bloodwood) bush contains a sap, which is very bitter. The Aborigines boil the sap and drink it to ease the pain of a toothache. The Aborigines also claim that it helps with a bad chest.

Answer: Pound and soak the seeds in water for at least a week, changing the water daily. The pulp was then made into cakes and roasted over hot embers.

The Burrawang plant is a cycad which fruits after a fire.
Burrawang seeds are highly nutritious because they contain starch but are also extremely toxic without the correct preparation.