Skip to main content

Grass tree forest


I am totally in love with them and the way their "hair" falls so neatly.








Comments

  1. I remember reading that the Aborigines used to eat parts of the grass tree but I couldn't remember which bits.
    So, of course I went googling.
    This is what I found:
    To Aborigines the Grasstree was an exceptionally useful plant. The flower is laden with sweet nectar and can be sucked or soaked in water to produce a sweet drink. The crisp crown of the trunk was traditionally split open and the starch eaten raw, but this is not recommended because it kills the tree. Grasstree starch is high in carbohydrates (41%) more than twice the calorie content of potatoes (Low, 1988). The resin was used by Aborigines as glue and the wooden flower stalks were made into firesticks or spears. Dead trunks sometimes contain edible white grubs and provide excellent firewood that burns with intense heat even in wet conditions.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the research Letty. Here is what a sign in the park said
      "Early settlers used the resin as a medicine for bowel complaints, as a constituent in perfume, and as an alternative to shellac for furniture polishing. It was often cleared by graziers because stock sometimes became ill after eating the leaves.

      Earlier this century many grass trees were harvested for use in making chemical products and explosives. It is possible the Australian soldiers were killed by explosives Germany reportedly made with the large quantities of resin imported before the war.

      Delete
    2. Wow. Resin for bowel complaints - I suppose that would work!!
      And in chemicals and explosives - what a versatile plant.

      Delete
  2. What interesting trees. And yes, they look beautiful, too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeh really interesting and even with a German link ... see the note I've added above :-)

      Delete
    2. Oi, I did not know this. I would have preferred if Germany had imported the trees because of their beauty, :-(

      Delete
  3. The top shot is fantastic! This spot looks like something out of this world.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I almost expect to see dinosaurs wandering in to take a munch.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Coolibah?

Is that a Coolibah tree beside the abandoned house? Every Australian knows about Coolibah trees because the bush ballad Waltzing Matilda is nigh on our unoffical national anthem but most of us live nowhere near the inland where they grow. Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong, Under the shade of a Coolibah tree, And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled, You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me. Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda, You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me, And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me.

The end

I retire from the workforce this week and to celebrate have decided to retire my current blogs and start afresh with a single consolidated blog -  My Bright Field  - to record the delights of my new life adventure. If you are interested follow me over there.  I will still be Sweet Wayfaring and collecting Royal Hotels.  The delights I discover along the way will appear together with my gardens and towns where I live.

Brown streams and soft dim skies

I gave my husband a thick book on the history of Australian Art for Christmas. It documents just how long it took the artists to paint what they actually saw -- at the hands of early artists our wild Australian landscapes looked like rolling green English countryside. Today's photo has "that look" so I have referenced words from the poem describing England. It was Christmas Eve. We were camped by the Tumut River in the Snowy Mountains of NSW. A shady spot planted with exotic trees from the "old world" and with the soft burble of a swiftly flowing stream. Bliss after a hot afternoon drive. But the old world dies slowly, a hot roast for Christmas dinner followed by plum pudding is one of those traditions that just won't die. Knowing we were going to be on the move on Christmas Day we settled for having our traditional hot meal on Christmas Eve this year.