Seeds/Fruit of the Australian Rainforest

These images and more can be viewed at flickr.com - Black Diamond images. If you search the page that opens you will find various links to related material and excellent images of seeds and plants.

To gain permission FOR USE OF IMAGES or order prints visit the Profile page at Flickr of  BLACK DIAMOND



The following images below were found at the flickr site. I will be posting more on this after researching the related project .

something in the planning stage

At the moment I am putting together some plans for the next few months and this is the initial draft for an event to be held on World Environment Day at the Botanic gardens at Mt Coot-tha. Do get in touch if you wish to know more or wish to book to come to this free event. I'd love to see you there next month!

Looks like we will be holding this event on Sunday, 6th of June from 10.30 am till 1.30 pm . You will be kept in touch... more coming soon!



I'm off to Sydney for 5 days so will be back next week at the Gardens...
                  time to pack!
         NB click on text to enlarge for reading!

The Glass House Mountains and Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve

This is the wonderful view from the roadside opposite Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve just outside of Maleny, an hour north of Brisbane. To read a brief history of the traditional owners before and since white occupation click here and on European pioneer history read here. The Glass house mountains were so named because Captain James Cook passing by in the Endevour in May, 1770 thought they looked like the glass-making furnaces near his home in Yorkshire, England.

click on images to enlarge for viewing

The Reserve website has a bushtucker guide which is of particular interest in regard to the Homage to the Seed Blog. The image below is from an article on wild food - also known as bushtucker. The top left corner features the large green bunya pine.

Bunya Pine or Bon-yi Bon-yi

(Araucaria bidwillii)

This was an important food. The nuts were eaten raw although generally roasted whole or after pounding into a meal. Seeds were also buried in mud until they sprouted, then roasted for a better flavour. The thick end was then cracked with a stone, "otherwise it would go off with a pop and shoot everywhere". The trees fruit most abundantly every three to four years. On these years, large numbers of Aboriginal people gathered at nearby Baroon Pocket Dam to feast on these nuts, arrange marriages and initiations, settle tribal disputes and hold corroborees. Some men had usufactory (harvesting) rights to specific trees.  Text: reserve website

Photo above taken on walk at Botanic Gardens , Mt Coot-tha in February.

Native Ginger (Alpinia caerulea)

The ginger flavoured pulp of fruits, stems and roots was eaten raw. The leaves were used to wrap around or add flavour when cooking. The fruit was opened and the filament was tasty but the seeds were spat out. Aboriginal pathways through the forest could be detected by the trail of discarded seeds.

(Illustration by Janet Hauser) Text: reserve website

Patricia is one of the volunteers at this Reserve and has been for 13 years.We had an interesting chat when I spent some time there yesterday. Horticulture has been running through her family for quite along time she explained... with family before her orchardists and farmers, she herself sometimes being affectionately known as "the little farmer" and a son in Horticulture. Living close by 2 decades or more the garden at Patrica's home is on an acre - part native garden as she is "devoted to australian natives", part a mix of plants from around the world. There's a dedicated rainforest area and a vegetable garden that I suspect is pretty good. You dont get called 'the little farmer' for nothing! Patricia's face was full of verve and passion as she talked of this garden and her previous one at her home in Nth Ryde, Sydney. I was reminded this part of Sydney was an important food bowl for the early European settlers and she assured me she kept that tradition alive in Ryde.

Our conversation barely skimmed the surface ... I'm sure there would be a lot to learn from this clever woman!

Callerya megasperma (F.Muell.) Schot

Family Fabaceae - Faboideae

This is a 'native wisteria' known  its likeness in appearance to the well known wisteria originating in Asia. The seedpod and seed above and below were sitting on the desk as I talked with Patricia.

read notes on this species at website:  Noosa's Native Plants

Thankyou to Patricia for such enthusiastic engagement in the homage project and sharing stories ... thanks also to Pam at the front desk yesterday!

PS Through a comment by artist Altoon Sultan I was reminded of the eminant Australian artist Lawrence Daws who has painted the Glass House Mountains often over many years since moving here. Googling his name I found this publication which I'm thinking can be found in the QLD State Library. His own website  www.lawrencedaws.com  is updated till 2005.








Lawrence Daws      Glasshouse Mountains 2001
oil on canvas, 101.5 x 122 cm

collecting seeds and pods... collecting stories...

Last week in the Seed Lab at Mt Coot-tha was a rather brief visit. Whilst engaged in conversation in the Lab I had aquarelle colour pencils on hand and the seed journal so did manage to do a little light drawing. The pods below made a good subject after discovering a package left at the reception desk at the Gardens by long serving volunteer guide Carmel O'Keefe with whom I hope to catch up with soon to hear stories she has in mind to share on various seeds. I was very delighted that she was so thoughtful as to label the pods and bring them to Reception.

Albizia lebbeck is indigenous to Australia but not uniquely so... being found in quite a large number of locations outside this Continent. I found the forms satisfying to work with - as you will note some are more dried out and motley tones. The greener ones had a stark outline that reminded one almost of a caricature of a pod.

Some of the volunteer guides, Garden staff and others further afield are hearing that I am on the lookout for interesting seed pods and capsules over this year and keen to collect stories on various species of seeds and plants with samples where possible.

This has led to quite an number of people kindly coming forward... for which I am very grateful. Tapping in to so much available material is extremely beneficial and the anecdotal information can add greatly to available documentation. This year there will be a number of gatherings for discussions on  seeds and stories - the first is planned for the 5th of June which is World Environment Day. A flyer and details will be available next week about this event you are invited to attend if you are able to get to Mt Coot-tha on that day. I will be taking bookings - although it will be a free event - to ensure we have plans firmly in place for a lively gathering.

With appreciation to those who have shared material for this project to date!


Below: For the Embiggen gallery show I made cards using artwork from the Homage journal. So much work is to be found in the pages of one's journals that never ends up on the Gallery walls and the exhibition provided the perfect opportunity to offer the cards. The store carries an intoxicating range of books from the broad realm of the Sciences and quality Art and Design titles as well as more general titles and literature. 
Journal pages showing work from the seed lab and notes from research were ideal in this context. I will continue to sell these cards at events this year  -  you're welcome to place a request through this blog. ( schedule permitting for turnaround time-frame!)

a closer look

These seeds are all found in Western Australia - I will have more on this soon. From a wonderful book 'Australian Seeds' that I wish to discuss in some detail as it provided excellent research material for the recent work I did for the Homage to the seed exhibition thats on at the moment in Noosaville. This weekend I will be visiting Noosa and stopping by at Embiggen books and Gallery.

See top right sidebar for more information about this. You can of course enlarge these seeds by clicking on the images.

I rather like the smallness of the images... in keeping with how tiny so many seeds actually are.