Before I even knew what this plant was, I took one look at it and knew ‘bush food’!
The Lomandra (Lomandra longifolia), or Mat Rush, produces clusters of small flowers that produce what looks like grain, and indeed this plant is one of the essential bush foods used by Aboriginal people of Australia for thousands of years, mainly used for making an indigenous bread.
The seeds are not the only edible part of Lomandra. The flowers are sweet & edible, but caution needs to be exercised with the spines (which are located at the base of each flower). The leaf bases are also edible with a refreshing pea-like flavor. As they also contain a high amount of water, they were used by people as a means of hydration.
The Lomandra flowers are fragrant, and also sweet, and they are traditionally soaked for their nectar. Once it seeds, the seeds may be used for making into a flour or ground as a ‘coffee’. The flour is used traditionally to make a rustic bread or bush-cake, also called seedcakes or damper.
The leaves of Lomandra are also used by the Aboriginal people for woven mats, baskets and fishing tools, as they contain a tough fiber that can be made into a string.
Lomandra is found throughout eastern Australia, and now planted in other countries, such as New Zealand and the USA due to its high drought tolerance and reedy yet tidy appearance in the garden. This bush food is now found in gardens world-wide.
#MedicinalPlants #Ethnobotany #Biodiversity #Australia
*This content is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice or to take the place of such advice or treatment from a personal physician.
Photo by Donald Hobern from Copenhagen, Denmark – Lomandra longifolia