Australia's trees and bush foods
Fire-shaped natives and ancient bush tucker — from the eucalypts and banksias to the finger lime and the world's richest vitamin-C fruit.
- 01
Trees№ 1554 minEucalyptus: Controversial Giant, Essential Keystone
Why eucalyptus is not one tree but over 700 species, irreplaceable in Australia and disruptive when planted as monocultures elsewhere.
- 02
Trees№ 0294 minBanksia and Grevillea: Fire Flowers of the Poorest Soils
Australian trees that feed on the world's most barren ground with special cluster roots, hoard their seed in woody cones until fire opens them, and pour nectar for birds.
- 03
Trees№ 0513 minBottlebrush: The Red Brushes Built for Birds and Fire
Australian shrubs whose flower spikes are dead ringers for a bottle-brush — all stamens and no petals, brimming with nectar for birds, and holding their woody seed capsules shut for years until fire comes.
- 04
Trees№ 1954 minGrass Tree: The Fire-Loving Ancient of the Australian Bush
A slow, strange Australian plant that grows a black trunk a centimetre a year, flowers best after being burned, and can be centuries old — an icon of the bush older than it looks.
- 05
Trees№ 2543 minKurrajong and Bottle Trees: The Water-Bellied Trees of Australia
Australian trees that swell their trunks into bottles to store water and food, drop bell-flowers and edible seeds, and carry a fibrous bark that clothed and fed people through drought.
- 06
Trees№ 2765 minMacadamia, Cashew and Brazil Nut: The Tropical Nut Trees
An Australian nut with a shell that needs industrial force, a cashew hidden in a caustic shell, and a Brazil nut that cannot be farmed at all.
- 07
Trees№ 1633 minFinger Lime: The Native Citrus That Pops Like Caviar
An Australian rainforest citrus whose finger-shaped fruit is packed with tiny juicy globes that burst in the mouth like caviar — a gourmet 'citrus caviar' in a rainbow of colours, from a thorny understorey shrub.
- 08
Trees№ 3753 minQuandong: The Desert Peach That Feeds on Other Plants
An Australian sandalwood relative that lives partly by tapping the roots of its neighbours — bearing a tart, vitamin-rich red 'desert peach' that was a staple of the outback and is now a prized bush food.
- 09
Trees№ 2443 minKakadu Plum: The Fruit With the Most Vitamin C on Earth
A tree of northern Australia whose small green plum holds the highest recorded vitamin C of any fruit in the world — an ancient Aboriginal food and medicine, now a booming superfood and cosmetics crop.
- 10
Trees№ 1203 minDavidson Plum: The Sour Rainforest Plum on the Trunk
An Australian rainforest tree that hangs deep-purple, intensely sour plum-like fruit directly from its slender trunk — not a true plum at all, but a prized bush food for jams, sauces, and a striking magenta wine.
- 11
Trees№ 2683 minLilly-Pilly: Australia's Hedge, Berry, and Myrtle
The much-loved native evergreens of Australian gardens — dense, glossy, clip-happy myrtles that make the country's favourite hedges, flush their new growth in vivid pink and red, and bear crisp, tart edible berries.