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ajna

Emu apple - Owenia acidula

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i was watching a doco on outback Qld, and they were speaking to an aboriginal man in the Boodjamulla area about bushfoods.

He said that Emu apple is used to give energy for long walks through the desert, and mentions that "it makes you hallucinate, sends you into a sort-of-a-trance, so that you can just keep walking."

i cant seem to find much literature on it's use or constituents online (cant seem to access dr dukes ??), so wondering if anyone else here has any information on this plant? also it seems fairly widely distributed so some people may be able to experiment if so inclined.

a second thought i had on the matter was that the trance induced by long walks through the desert on little food could have been mistakenly associated with effects of the fruits, but no doubt it's worth investigating at least.

any experiences, info, thoughts, etc appreciated.

cheers,

ajna

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Botanical name: Owenia acidula

Common name: Emu Apple

Other common name(s): Sour Plum, Native Nectarine, Desert Plum

Description: Small tree. The leaves comprise many darker glossy mini-leaves. The fruit is reddish and succulent and very sour.

Use(s): The fruit is edible, but not particularly tasty - too sour. The wood was boiled and the cooled infusion was used to bathe sore eyes. Was used to treat malaria.

Habitat and conditions: Native to arid Central Australia. Full sun, drought tolerant.

From bushfood.net, all I could find.

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i was watching a doco on outback Qld, and they were speaking to an aboriginal man in the Boodjamulla area about bushfoods.

He said that Emu apple is used to give energy for long walks through the desert, and mentions that "it makes you hallucinate, sends you into a sort-of-a-trance, so that you can just keep walking."

cheers,

ajna

Sounds like the effects traditionally associated with Pituri :)

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You get all kinds of stuffups when you mix local language forms with dodgy editing back at home base... hard enough to really follow the point of someone speaking in "broken english" (entirely subjective term I reckon). Any rate, it's recommended as a hardy edible tree for Alice Springs, think if munching one would make you hallucinate we'd have heard more about em than that... maybe you will trip out if you eat a few, it might not be any kind of fun though (I had an antique timber spirit level fall on my head once...english oak, 4 feet long, brass end caps) and I had great CEV for the rest of the day...bummer about feeling as if I'd been hit with a level though).

The idea of a fruit doing that isnt entirely rubbish though, I hear chewing fresh ripe mace off a whole nutmeg can make a mess of a person, I get semi dried mace and it has its merits (not something I try to take too far though, it has more to offer me while in its "lower gear".

Alice Springs.. http://www.alicesprings.nt.gov.au/council/...ces/vergeDB.asp have a hunt, interesting stuff esp for those of us with irregular water supply. Council parks n gardens mob might be able to put you onto a source of prop stock too, might be worth a shot anyway.

These folks are having a chat about em, might be you could source some samples... http://www.au.gardenweb.com/forums/load/oz...9443216445.html probably more so if you have some nice other native things to hand over.

let us know how you go,

VM

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