by Thomas B » Mon Jan 18, 2010 9:20 pm
In NZ, their Kauri gums are edible and rich in sugar, so there's no reason ours aren't. Also their cordylines, of which there are many Australian species, are being trialled as sources for glucose syrup. I crossed the ditch for a holiday and ended up buying Edible Native Plants of NZ, which is a very good guide. I'm unlikely to use it on anything like a regular basis, but there are some species whose uses were discovered by the Maoris but their close relatives in Australia don't seem to have been used similarly.