Students from Guardian Angels Primary and Southport State High schools and Labrador Cubs have helped the Loders Creek Catchment Group plant, mulch and weed a 1km trail along Loders Creek, which is already home to many native species.

Once the trail is finished, information signs will identify the plants and a brochure will be made available to teach people about the way these plants were traditionally used by the aborigines

The Nature Trail project!

The plants are:

Melaleuca quinqenervia
Coastal Tea Tree
Flowers rich in nectar - soaked in water to make drinks. Leaves were sucked, chewed or crushed and the scent inhaled for relief of colds and flu. Bark used to wrap food for cooking and for shelter.

Banksia
Saw Leafed Banksia
Flowers are heavily laden with nectar—may be eaten or dipped into water to make a sweet drink. The flower may also be rolled in the hand, and the nectar sticking to the hand licked off. The seed cones were used as hair combs.

Ficus sp.
Figs
The fruit of the native fig tree is eaten raw or cooked. Dried figs may be pounded to make a type of cake. The wood was used to make wooden implements, and the inner bark was used to make string. The latex may be used to treat ringworm, dry the umbilical cord of a baby at birth or used to trap small birds which were then eaten.

Creek
Loders creek is important for supplying a variety of foods including mullet, crayfish, and bullrush (Typha).

Acacia longifolia
Long leaf wattle.
NOTE: NOT ALL ACACIAS ARE EDIBLE
The leaves were used to make fish poison, and the green unripe seeds were used as a type of soap. Fibre derived from the bark was used to make utensils.

The gum of other Acacias may be sucked like a candy or soaked in water to make a jelly. Some flowers are eaten, as are some seeds. Bark may be infused and to make a drink for herbal medicines, and the gum may also be used to treat diarrhea. The bark may be used to manufacture fish poison, and the wood was used for making tools. Roots were used for making boomerangs.

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Lomandra longifolia
Mat Rush
The flowers and seeds are edible. Care must be taken when collecting as there are sharp thorns surrounding the seed heads. The leaves may be cut away at the base, where the white coloured strip at the base of each leaf may be eaten—they are juicy and relatively palatable. The leaves are also used to weave baskets and mats.

Leptospermum petersonii
Lemon scented Tea Tree
The leaves were used to make a beverage similar to tea. A type of sweet exudate is eaten from the tree—and is known as manna.

Callistemon viminalis
Bottle Brush
The flowers are very sweet and sticky with nectar. The nectar may be eaten directly from the flower or soaked in water to make a sweet drink.

Melastoma affine
Blue tongue
The fruit of this species is ready to eat when the fruit splits apart. The fruit is very sweet, and stains the tongue blue—hence the name ‘blue tongue’.

Hibiscus
This species is covered in spiny hairs, and care must be taken not to eat the hairs. The flowers are edible, and may be eaten raw or cooked. The roots and inner bark may also be eaten. The inner bark fibre may be used to make hunting nets and bags.

Ficus coronata
Sandpaper fig
The figs are particularly good to eat when ripe however the hairy skin should be removed prior to eating. The leaves were used for the final smoothing of weapons. Sandpaper fig leaves were also used to treat ringworm infection and the latex applied to small sores and warts.

Rubus moluccanus
Native raspberry.
The fruit is small, sweet and very juicy. Eaten raw. The leaves may be soaked in warm water which is then drunk to treat diarrhea and ‘bad belly’.

Syzigium
Lilly Pilly
The fruit is eaten when ripe and may be sweet or even unpalatable—depending on the individual tree. The fruit was utilized mainly as a snack source, as gathering the fruit from a tree requires little energy for a fairly large quantity of fruit.
The fruit was used as a water source.

Austromyrtus dulcis
Midyim berry
A very tasty fruit which is soft, sweet and aromatic (akin to ginger). The berries were gathered when ripe and eaten whole and raw. This fruit was a favorite with the Aborigines.

Allocasuarina litoralis
A sticky gum is exuded by the tree which is collected and chewed or melted with water to form a jelly before being eaten. The young developing seed pods and foliage may also be chewed to stimulate saliva and act as a thirst quencher.

Dianella
Flax lilly
Flax lilies develop purplish coloured fruit which are edible in small amounts. The roots were pounded, roasted on hot rocks and then eaten The leaves were used to weave dillies and baskets.

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