Bush Tucker

The Ma:Mu Rainforest Aboriginal people’s traditional lands are around Innisfail, Palmerston and Millaa Millaa areas. The area’s volcanic soils and high rainfall have produced some of the most diverse tropical rainforest in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. These forests traditionally provided a rich source of food, particularly in wetter months when animals were difficult to hunt. Even today when the easy option is to shop in a supermarket, Ma:Mu people gather and prepare these foods because it is still part of their culture and they enjoy eating their traditional foods.

A wide range of animals including possums, tree-kangaroos and many birds including the endangered cassowary dine on these fruits. If you plant them on your property you will probably attract wildlife to your backyard.
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BEWARE! There are many poisonous plants in the rainforest. Rainforest Aboriginal Elders are very concerned that adventurous naturalists may sample some bush tucker and poison themselves. It is unwise to sample bush tucker unless you are absolutely certain what you’re eating.

For more information
• Visit the Ma:Mu Bush Tucker Garden at Warrima Lakes, Innisfail
• Innisfail Campus Tropical North Queensland TAFE, PO Box 1453 Innisfail 4860 Phone (07) 4043 8622
• Society for Growing Australian Plants
www.sgapqld.org.au/bushtucker.html
• James Cook University’s Agroforestry and Novel Crops Unit
http://cnsfse01.jcu.edu.au/schools/tropbio/index.html
[email protected] Phone (07) 4042 1573
• Native Foods Association of FNQ Inc. PO Box 150 Malanda 4885 Mobile (0429) 121212

Books
• Grow Your Own Bush Foods - Keith and Irene Smith, New Holland, 1999
• Wild Food Plants of Australia - Tim Low, Angus & Robertson, 1991
• A Guide to Traditional Aboriginal Rainforest Plant Use - The Kuku Yalanji, Mossman Gorge Bamanga Bubu Ngadimunku Inc., 1995
Source: ​Wet Tropics Management Authority - Rainforest Explorer

Click on a plant name for a full description including photos.

​Athertonia diversifolia
Acronychia acidula
Antidesma bunius
Antidesma erostre
Archontophoenix alexandrae
Davidsonia pruriens
Dillenia alata
Diploglottis bracteata
Elaeocarpus grandis
Elaeagnus triflora
Ficus pleurocarpa
Ficus racemosa
Melodorum leichhardtii (syn. Rauwenhoffia leichhardtii)
Musa banksii
Morinda citrifolia
Pleiogynium timorense
Podocarpus dispermus
Syzygium erythrocalyx
Sterculia quadrifida
Syzygium luehmanii