''Marsdenia australis'', commonly known as the bush banana, silky pear or green vine is an Australian native plant. It is found in Central Australia and throughout

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

. It is a

bush tucker Bush tucker, also called bush food, is any food native to Australia and used as sustenance by Indigenous Australians, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but it can also describe any native flora or fauna used for culinary or m ...

food used by

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples o ...

.Peter Kenneth Latz, Jenny Green, "Bushfires & Bushtucker: Aboriginal Plant Use in Central Australia", IAD Press, 1995, ''M. australis'' has many different names in Aboriginal languages. In the

Arrernte language Arrernte or Aranda (; ) or sometimes referred to as Upper Arrernte (Upper Aranda), is a dialect cluster in the Arandic language group spoken in parts of the Northern Territory, Australia, by the Arrernte people. Other spelling variations are A ...

of Central Australia; ''merne alangkwe'' (older transcription: ''elonka''), ''merne ulkantyerrknge'' (the flowers) and ''merne altyeye'' (the prefix ''merne'' signifies plant food). In Karrajari, Nyulnyul and

Yawuru The Yawuru, also spelt Jawuru, are an Indigenous Australian people of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Language A Japanese linguist, Hosokawa Kōmei (細川弘明), compiled the first basic dictionary of the Yawuru language in 1988, a ...

it is called Magabala'''. The Walmajarri people call it ''Kurlipi''. The small fruits are called ''amwerterrpe''.

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area inclu ...

and Karlkurla (one of its suburbs) both take their names from a Wangai word meaning "place of the silky pears".

Edibility

All parts of the bush banana plant are still eaten in the desert region by indigenous communities today. The flowers hang in clusters and can also be eaten raw, as can the main part of the plant (''altyeye'' in Arrernte). Some people suck the nectar from the flowers as a source of food, while others use it as a garnish. Bush bananas are cooked in hot earth beside the fire or eaten raw when young (the flavour has been likened to fresh peas or zucchini). The root of the plant is called ''Merne atnetye'' and can also be eaten raw or cooked. The very white roots are cooked in the hot earth close to the fire. Young leaves can be used in salads. One of the significant bush food for the

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

people of Australia, the food is often depicted in current Aboriginal art, especially paintings about 'bush tucker', as well as 'Bush Banana Dreaming' paintings.Aboriginal Symbols
Bush Banana - Indigenous Australia - Iconography and Symbols
/ref> Marsdenia fruit

Footnotes

External links

Alice Springs Town CouncilWA Government
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1017295 australis Eudicots of Western Australia Flora of the Northern Territory Bushfood Australian Aboriginal bushcraft Crops originating from Australia Desert fruits Drought-tolerant plants Gentianales of Australia