Australian Native Murnong Yam

Picture this: Humans move into a new place, a once-plentiful food resource is depleted and finally goes extinct. Seems a pretty standard pattern by now, one we’ve seen repeated over and over and over, all over the planet. Here’s a pattern break:

People have lived continuously on this land for 50,000 years at least. They have a food source so plentiful that those in the growing belt for it would consume up to two kilos of it per day. They realised that they could spread it and – sort of – cultivate it, if you could call burying tubers and returning next year to a new patch of the food. This led to the native Yam Daisy (that they called murnong among other names) being widely distributed and plentiful.

It’s not certain that the Australian indigenous people used murnong as a food source all the way back in their history, but it was certainly true when European people came here that it was a plentiful source, with, as mentioned, some places growing 2kg/person/day quantities.

I made this image from fragments of images and drawings available on Australian government sites and have tried to adhere to Fair Use in doing so. The Microseris spp we’re concerned with here are the lanceolata, scapigera and walteri. They’re all very similar and can grow up to 40cm tall, with those tubers the primary food and means of propagation. They grow readily. They were not to European tastes, in fact most of the intruders were unaware of how valuable and plentiful a food this was.

And yet, it became all but extinct in Australia. What happened? We did.

As usual, with a complete disregard for any part of the planet (and sorry, I have to say “intruders” and “disregard” because they’re the only words fit to describe what we do) we brought with us our own food animals (sheep, cattle) and ignored the local native-to-the-land food sources for whatever reasons. And our food at their food, in great quantities and right down to every tuber that could have re-seeded the land after them.

We remained totally unaware, while the indigenous people realised what was happening and raised concerns that our sheep and cattle were destroying a food crop they’d relied on for millennia. And as we always do, we ignored them patted them on the head and gave them some flour or whatever, and didn’t give a shit.

Then we brought rabbits to the country, because what well-to-do bloodthirsty murdering bastard jailers wouldn’t like to enjoy a “bit of sport” in between their pursuits of murdering the natives and killing off as many convicts as their hearts desired?

Rabbits put the final nail in the coffin of a wide-spread food source and it’s now as rare as the proverbial rocking-horse shit. Murnong and several other native foods only survive now because a handful of people realised what a right royal cock-up we’d made in zeroing out a valuable and versatile food, and found and multiplied the few seeds and tubers that have been found at various facilities and private gardens.

I’ll make no secret of this – Kerry and I walk around and even in an empty lot that’s due for a new building (so in a few months between demolition and work commencing) we can usually spot 2 – 6 edibles there. In our garden we have conventional vegetables as well as some less known edibles and native food plants. Some have been sent to us by people we’ve never met in person (thank you Mr Barraclough et al!) but are now established and raring to be propagated.

If we had more than 45sqm of garden, we could help with re-generating more Australian native plants – but as it is that garden is also our ornamentals garden, the cat run, and out outdoors relaxation area. We’re tapped out for space. But perhaps you have some space, and want to bring back some species here and there.

It doesn’t have to be food plants, although these would be a good choice. There are thousands of species on the endangered list, and there are always people happy to provide seeds or runners or cuttings. Failing that, find a reputable wildlife project and donate time or money. The important thing is that our planetary life-support systems are damaged and we need to put everything we can back, to try and stop it cooking out.

Sorry I sound so dead-set angry with greedy bastards, but I do try to Keep The Bastards Honest wherever I can and encourage you all to do the same. Call bullshit out. ColesWorth’s greed – call it out. Your real estate landlords and agents – call ’em. Greedy power companies, planet-destroying fossil fuel corporations – you know what to do. Get stuck into them! From any and every angle you can think of.

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