[pbs] Australian Ethnobotany
Shelley GAGE
sgage4 at eq.edu.au
Wed Feb 4 20:39:16 EST 2009
Dear Pam,
Australia has, as you would know, few native bulbous plants but if I can help you with info etc on any of our many and varied plants let me please let me know. I live in South-east Qld and of course we have a wide range of habitats.
Shelley
----- Original Message -----
From: Jane McGary <janemcgary at earthlink.net>
Date: Thursday, February 5, 2009 3:42 am
Subject: Re: [pbs] Australian Ethnobotany
To: Pacific Bulb Society <pbs at lists.ibiblio.org>
> Pam asked about Australian ethnobotanical information for an
> exhibit
> where she volunteers.
>
> >At Boyce Thompson Arboretum where I volunteer, we're talking
> about in an
> >Australian Seep exhibit. In studying a little but very
> interesting monograph
> >called "Mutooroo," I found the following entries about bulbous
> >plants but would
> >like to pass on the definition of mutooroo found in the book -
> "Aboriginal for
> >'place where we go for food'." The following is verbatim
> and I will thus, not
> >use quotes:
> >
> >This book was first published in 1984. I was told that
> its title
> >"Mutooroo" is
> >pronounced moo-jer-OOO. Is this correct? Also,
> isn't the correct Crinum name
> >pendiculatum? There are also interesting but longer
> entries for Alocasia and
> >Calocasia spp. that I'd be glad to share if anyone's interested.
>
> Pam, there's no such language as "Aboriginal." Australia has
> many
> native languages in more than one family. If you'd like this
> clarified for your exhibit, I can track down some more rigorous
> information for you. The languages of Australia, most of which
> are
> extinct or nearing extinction (thanks in part to colonial
> efforts to
> separate children from their cultures), have been relatively
> well documented.
>
> Jane McGary
>
> _______________________________________________
> pbs mailing list
> pbs at lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/pbs
> http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki
More information about the pbs
mailing list