We're a migrant culture, us Australians, as much as many loudly declare we were born here and could trace roots back to early settlers, it always was, and always has been, Aboriginal land. Despite this, we seem to cling to the familiar remedies of European homelands - German chamomile, the familiar stinging nettle of England, the elder tree copse in my garden. Like us, they've been here so long we can probably say they have their permanent visa - they're truly put roots down.

@naturalmedicine's challenge this week is asking us to write about 'local' medicines, whether this is something famously locally available, a more hidden plant, a ritual or a body work technique particular to our cultures. You can find the link to the challenge here - everyone is welcome to enter, and I do hope you find the time. Entries close on Sunday.

I've been thinking about that a lot lately and although I'm partly responsible for pitching this challenge, I have been puzzling about what I can write about, because if I'm to be truly local, I feel I have to explore bush medicines used by Aboriginal Australia for thousands of years. I'm guilty of knowing virtual nothing about it - we aren't taught about them unless we actively seek them out, and even the information on the internet is few and far between. Unlike the hundreds of books on European herb and plant lores and remedies, there's not much literature out there that explores the plants in this realm.

And then, looking out my back window, I realised that we've been using a local medicine forever - eucalyptus oil. We buy it in small glass jars at the supermarket and use it for cleaning surfaces (mix about twenty drops in a spray bottle with water and a generous splash of white vinegar and you have a good antiseptic kitchen spray) and for stings, cuts and scrapes. It is antiseptic, antifungal, antiviral, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial. It sits in the cupboard next to tea-tree oil, which has always been part of my first aid kit. Australians took it to the second world war with them, and had been singing it's praises since they learnt from the First Australians how good it was.

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Thus, I decided I'd explore more about the local trees here and their value. I might not extract the oils myself, but at least I could learn a bit more about them. I've spent years planting them, willing them grow, watching them drop limbs to use for firewood, make structures from them, stand under their shade, watch the bees nuzzle into their flowers, and I've carted water to the young ones, collected the seeds to grow, gone to local plant sellers to find indigenous plants that grow well here. Such practices and such attention to land makes me love this country even more, ties me to the spirit of place so my heart settles and beats along with the extraordinary beauty around me. Finding more about their medicinal value feels like a job I should have done quite a while ago!

Sticky Hops: Dondonaea Viscosa

This is one we have in the corner of our garden. We'll always prefer more traditional European hops for beer making, but settlers DID use the red and papery seed capsules for making beer! It was used by Aborigines as a local anaesthetic for relieving tooth ache, and for binding on skin to treat stings after being boiled. Boiled root juice was also applied to sore ears.

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River Red Gum

Our area is famous for it's huge and magnificent red gums, some being over 200 years old and still bearing marks of Aboriginal use from smoking eels inside the trucks or for weopons. The kino resin from the trees is astringent, and a water mixture used for diarrohea. A leaf infusions was used in case of fever or colds - eucaplyptus oil of course is famous for this the world over. The bark is spectacular in rain and late Autumn light - they are gnarled and beautiful home for birds, make great fire wood and wood for furniture. I think they are the 'oak' of Australia in that way.

Red river gums are replaced

by plane trees from England

and still

the survivors

watch.

- Lisa Bellear

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Lemon Scented Gum

This one is gorgeous when you crush the leaves in your hand - it's decidedly lemony and we have 3 on our property for this reason. It's leaves contain a lemon-scented oil that is rich in citronella, which has certain specific antibacterial properties. The bark resin has citriodorol, an antibiotic. Like many of the gums, the oil is used industrially - however, like with any essential eucalyptus oils, you have to be careful of ingesting too much - it can kill you!

Blue Gum

When I was in England, I missed the scent of gums like crazy. I'll never forget walking through the mall once in Poole and finding a flower seller on the streets vending blue gum - I stood there smelling them and crying because it just reminded me of home. It was medicine for my soul to spend my last pennies on a bunch to bring home and fill my house with their scent. Crazy to think I had to pay for it when it's all over the place here. They're super tall and cultivated for it's oils that help clear nasal passages and treat aches and pains. I still love them as cut leaves, or we'll put them on the car dashboard on road trips.

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The blue gums soar, naked
smooth, to where they over arch and,
lost in height, mingle in myriad tongues.
How have I got here? Why do I stand?
long looking, long desiring, a fallen
trunk, lichened, mossed, host to ochre
red fungi, falling into mould at my feet?

• Roland Robinson

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Acacia Victoracae

We have thousands of different wattles in Australia and the landscape is spotted yellow in Spring. They are gaining popularity as a food in gourmet cooking and have a lot of protein - they are used in biscuits and bread a lot. They contain avicins which inhibit inflammation and cancer, as some studies claim. It's ground into flour and has been used in a coffee like drink, beer making, sweets and marinades.

Source

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The tree knows four truths –

earth, water, air and the fire of the sun.

The tree holds four truths in one.

Root, limb and leaf unfold

out of the seed and these rejoice

till the tree dreams it has a voice

to join four truths in one great world of gold.

from Judith Wright: The Wattle Tree

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Sandpaper Ficus

I'm on the look out for this one - it's meant to grow locally but I'm not sure if I've spotted it yet. The edible fruit is sweet apparently. A poultice can be made from the bark for wounds.

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Round-leaf Mint Bush Prostanthera rotundifolia

J. loves the native mint bush for its splendid purple flowers - the whole bush is purple in the Spring! I made him plant it far away from the garden proper, as my colour scheme is more orange and yellow. Now I know it can be used to make a mint tea, which is carminative, I might like it a little more - it's flowers are quite pretty, I must admit!

In my research for this post, I discovered there's an exhibition on at the moment at Melbourne University, entitled: "The art of healing: Australian Indigenous bush medicine". It explores traditional Indigenous healing practice past, present and future - healing practices and bush medicine from Indigenous communities across Australia through contemporary art and objects. I'm really excited to head up there, so if you are a Melbournite, it could be worth a visit for you. Let me know if you do go.

A lot of Aboriginal communities are giving this knowledge of bush medicines to younger generations for healing on physical, mental and spiritual levels. Many are working with more mainstream medicinal paradigms to share what they know so the information is not lost. Cultural and social frameworks like this are so important to the well-being of these communities, maintaining intimate links to country. Even for me, a white Australian, discovering more about the native plants in my area and the medicinal benefits they can provide tie me even more to this beautiful land I live in. I truly believe we should always seek to expand our knowledge in this way as it's so important to have connections to where we live so we're more likely to fight for it, should we need to.

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