BURRAWANG

Macrozamia communis

Burrawangs grow in colonies in woodlands and spotted gum forests. Female plants produce large pineapple shaped seed cones. The seeds are poisonous but Aborigines were able to leach the toxins out in water to make them edible. In some areas the signal used to deduce that the seeds were edible was when fish started nibbling at the starchy flesh, which was the ground to a paste and cooked.

The images included here shows details of the flower which holds the seeds, dried seeds and the plant. In 2008 artists in resdience Magrit Lindner made jewelry from the seeds.