Discover Bush Tucker
Lemon Myrtle (Backhousia citriodora)
The Lemon Myrtle tree grows in subtropical forests of Central and South East Queensland. It also grows naturally from Mackay to Brisbane.Lemon Myrtle is a popular garden plant and has long been used as food and a healing plant. It is a well-known bushfood flavour (Queen of the lemon herbs)
It has many used including teas, cheesecakes and ice cream. The oil derived from the tree is used medically to treat skin ailments.
Native Ginger(Alpinia caerulea)
The Native Ginger is regarded as the best Bush Tucker plant. It is a herb and grows to three metres high in the understory of the rainforests in eastern Australia. The raw root is crunchy with a mild ginger flavour. It can be used in cooking as a substitute other ginger having a milder, less spicy taste. First nations people used the large swordlike leaves to wrap fish prior to baking giving the fish a ginger flavour. The young leaves can be cut up and added to stir-frys.
The white Native Ginger flowers that bloom in summer attract bees. The flowering is followed by the formation of blue berries that have a lemon/ginger flavour and kept the First nations people’s mouths moist. Break open the blue shells to reveal the seeds that you need to remove to eat the white fresh.The old leaves may be steeped in dishes while cooking, like you would a bay leaf, then remove from the dish when cooked.
Native Rosella (Abelmoschus moschatus subspecies. tuberosos)
This plant is found mainly in North and Eastern Queensland also in the NT, WA and parts of SE Asia. Subspecies are also found in India, Asia, the Pacific Islands and Northern NSW.This plant grows in open woodlands, grasslands, rocky hillsides and flatlands.
Moschatus – means mush or mush smellingTuberosos – having tubesNative Rosella is a soft herberous trailing plant, growing to teo metres and has soft hairy stems. It is a relative of the edible Olmva. It has underground tubers that dies back in the dry season and will return in the wet.
Green Mat-Rush (Lomandra hystrix)
A herb found throughout eastern Australia. It is a hardy native grass and has a mounding growth habit with yellow flower spikes during spring. Great for erosion planting on banks and slopes. The starchy white base of the leaves are edible tasting like raw peas.
First nations people used to moisten their mouths on long walks, the flower and seeds are also edible.