Wilderness Survival Bushfoods

[MadHatter]

Hello all! I'm hoping you all can help me out with a personal project that my brother and I are involved in researching suitable wilderness survival food plants. We are specifically interested in species found in Tasmania, but I'd also be happy to look at species from southern Victoria - just out of interest.
The main criteria that we are looking for are bushfoods that are a good source of carbohydrates and that require little or no processing - that is, they can be eaten raw or require only cooking to make them safe for human consumption. So far we have found quite a lot of basic information about what is edible, but very little detail about what preperation, if any is required.

At the moment we have alot of disparate peices of information which we are planning on compiling into a more user-freindly list this weekend. I'll come back and post the list when we have it all together. In the mean time plese feel free to suggest anything that comes to mind.

[spottedquoll]

stick to rivers and swamps, this is where most of the bulky higher carb plants will be found.

[MadHatter]

That had occurred to me already, especially with plants such as Typha (Bullrush), Valisneria (Ribbon Weed), etc. But we are aiming for the most comprehensive list we can manage - after all, you can get into trouble in any kind of country...

Here's a couple of questions that come easily to mind:

I have seen a reference (in Flora of Melbourne IIRC) to the tubers of terrestrial orchids being edible. Would it be safe to say that all of tassies terrestrial orchids are edible, and if so can all be eaten raw?

Flora of Melbourne also points to the tubers of some geranium species being used for food, while other sources list only medicinal uses. Can anyone shed more light on the potential of this genus?

I know the roots of Clematis microphlla (Small-leafed Clematis) can be eaten cooked, but I'm not so sure about raw. I have also found vague references to Clematis aristata (Austral Clematis) being edible, but nothing about whether it needs any processing.

Any thoughts?

[Aussie in Training]

According to this article
http://farrer.csu.edu.au/ASGAP/APOL35/sep04-2.html
*virtually* all bulbs are edible.
Helpfully, they don't go into any detail about which aren't or what to look for, they may just be being cautious, or they may be aware of a plant with a toxic tuber. Hard to say!

[MadHatter]

So you see my dilemma!
We do intend to conduct some careful feild trials once we are satisfied we have as much information as we are likely to get. But to be honest I don't think I'd trust my wellbeing to information as vague as that!

Of course, I doubt we will attempt to harvest any orchids simply due to their coservation status, but they make for a perfect example of how perfunctory much of the available information is. Still, someone must know af at least -some- species of orchid which are edible. For example, on forum member skipdaddyo's blog I found the following reference:

We bought a Blunt Greenhood (Pterostylis curta), a Trim Greenhood (Pterostylis concinna), and a Water Ribbon (Triglochin procera).

I’m not sure which of the Greenhood tubers we tried, but they were crunchy and tasted a bit like potato.

So that's two that are for sure (and raw too by the sound of it) perhaps there are others...
And perhaps, as that article you linked to suggests, the information is just so sketchy that we really don't know.
In any case, I plan to find out as much as i can before i go risking my neck!

[spottedquoll]

I have tried orchid tubers but they tend to be pretty small, I'm fairly sure clematis tubers would require some preparation - they're in the buttercup family and there's some not terribly edible ones in that lot!). Water Ribbons can provide quite a few tubers, but they do seem to depend on the season, I've seen them with large watery tubers (about thumb size) and at different times of the year fairly small (little finger size) and starchy tubers.

[dadpad]

from southern Victoria. There are to many to discuss. if yopu want further information on any one in particular give me a shout.

(EDIT: )Most of the below can be found in tungerong country. Good country -my country
ACACIA ACULEATISSIMA
ACACIA DEALBATA
ACACIA GENISTIFOLIA
ACACIA IMPLEXA
ACACIA LANIGERA
ACACIA MEARNSII
ACACIA MELANOXYLON
ACACIA PARADOXA
ACACIA PRAVISSIMA
ACACIA PYCNANTHA
ACACIA RUBIDA
acacia ulicifolia
ACACIA VERNICIFLUA
ARTHROPODIUM:
BILLARDIERA CYMOSA
BILLARDIERA SCANDENS:
BULBINE BULBOSA:
BURCHARDIA UMBELLATA
COPROSMA HIRTELLA:
COPROSMA QUADRIFIDA
DIANELLA: revoluta? & Longifolia?
DICOPOGON STRICTUS
EXOCARPUS cupressiformis
GAULTHERIA APPRESSA:
MICROCERIS LANCEOLATA:
PODOCARPUS LAWRENCII: (Protected species)
RUBUS PARVIFOLIUS
SAMBUCCUS ???
SAMBUCCUS GAUDICHIADIANA
TASMANNIA LANCEOLATA
TASMANNIA XEROPHILA
WURMBEA DIOICA
MICROLEANA STIPOIDES seed
cumbungi
ribbon weed
bracken fern root (starch beaten out and cooked)

Some of the above may have toxic pricipals if eaten on a regular basis but would be ok for survival mode.

I'd like to generalise and say most of the "pea plant" seeds, ground and cooked but I'm not too sure about all of them. Hard ripe is usually ok but then again getting from the plant is difficult (POP!)

There are over 7,000 indigenous species that are edible. However, the majority of these have forage value only.

[dadpad]

tubers of terrestrial orchids being edible

cant say for sure about ALL but I wouldnt say no to a handfull if I was hungry.

[spottedquoll]

I'd like to generalise and say most of the "pea plant" seeds, ground and cooked but I'm not too sure about all of them. Hard ripe is usually ok but then again getting from the plant is difficult (POP!)

Umm, No, plenty of the pea family contain protease inhibitors which stop the breakdown of protein in the body, they can contain sodium monoflourocetate, otherwise known as 1080, a poison used to control foxes and other animals, the pea family is one which has a lot of potential for food use but also potential for harm. make sure you check your references.

[dadpad]

And your sources for this information are ?????

Plenty of wild foods contain minute traces of toxins. Accepted items such parsley is a good example. Parsley contains safrole in larger quantities than Tas xerophila (Thats a generalisation).

Many toxins are broken down or can be leached with the correct treatment.

The trick seems to me to be small quantities. In a survival situation this is the most likely scenario anyhow.

Green pea seeds do indeed contain toxins harmfull to humans if consumed. As do some green acacia pods and seeds.

[Bluetongue]

I can't think of any carb-rich additions to the list.

Mistletoe berries are good this time of year. I don't know if they're all edible, so do take precautions.

Sounds like an interesting project!

[MadHatter]

Nice thought, but from memory Tassie has no mistletoes.
If recall correctly, the mistletoe birds that are responsible for distributing the seeds have never managed to cross bass straight...

[Bluetongue]

No mistletoes! Wow.
What fills that ecological function in Tassie, then?

I didn't know that about the mistletoe bird. And I can understand why they rub their bottoms on a branch to dislodge the seed, as they are hard for me to spit out.

Let us know what else you come up with

[spottedquoll]

[quote="dadpad"]And your sources for this information are ?????

From RIRDC "Food Safety of Australian Plant Bushfoods"

"Elsewhere, species with seeds that were
avoided by some or all Aboriginal groups included A. petrophilum and A. quadriloculatum which are
toxic, possibly A. ligulata, and A. validinervia, the latter being one of the few common Acacias of
which the seed was never eaten (Latz 1995). This may also apply to the seeds of A. georginae
(Georgina gidgee) which can be expected to contain fluoroacetate (the chemical name for "1080", an
agricultural poison)."

Certainly it appears that the protease inhibitors can be neutralised by cooking, even the green ones (my mistake), have heard and read various conflicting reports re the pea family.

[dadpad]

Flora of Melbourne also points to the tubers of some geranium species being used for food

The local (victorian uplands) native geraium species (sorry, I forget the name) is definitly edible.
It has an astringent flavour at first. but then settles to a carbohydrate/starchy flavour.
I taste tested (chewed up and swallowed the whole root) this with an aboriginal friend and my first comment was Jeez you can have this on your own. (Made that puckered up bum face) but once my saliva had washed that astringency away it was ok.

So far we have found quite a lot of basic information about what is edible, but very little detail about what preperation, if any is required.

One has to assume pre settlement populations had only rudimentary cooking impliments which I understand were confined to woven rush baskets used for steaming. No clay pots or metal (obviously). so it would be pretty safe???? to assume most soft foods would have been prepared in this manner. The only case I can think of where extended preparation was required is with cycaids, where repeated rinsing was required.

Another good source of starch in Tassie would be tree fern hearts, the center of Dicksonia antarctica. This species is protected here in Vic so mind how you go. I have never eaten this or attempted to gather so I know very little about it apart from variouse references stating it was an occasional food source.

I used to know a lot of information about this subject but the older I get the more stuff has to be crammed into my head and i'm afraid its use it or lose it. Forgive me please if some of my comments are a little vague.
Some information comes from personal experience and some from variouse reference books and personal communications.

"Australian carraway" seed may be another to look at. I cant remember (again) the botanical name but it grows higher up in our mountains so may be present in tassie. When it sets seed it forms a horizontal spoked wheel pattern with the seed at the end of each spoke. I've eaten small quantities raw.