When British colonists arrived in Australia in 1788, they encountered a continent whose human inhabitants had been managing its ecosystems, and learning from its plants, for at least 65,000 years. The knowledge accumulated in that time was encyclopedic. Every edible species. Every toxic one. Every plant with medicinal properties, and for which conditions, in which preparation, at which dose. Every material useful for tools, shelters, containers, rope, adhesive and fire. This knowledge was embedded in language, story, ceremony and practice — not written down, but carried with extraordinary fidelity through oral tradition across countless generations.
Most of this knowledge was never recorded. Some of it was actively suppressed through colonial policies that removed people from Country and prevented the cultural transmission on which knowledge depended. Some of it survives in the memories of living elders. Some is held in the archives of ethnobotanists who worked in genuine partnership with communities. And some is currently being recovered, documented and returned to communities through collaborative cultural heritage projects.
This reference covers what is publicly documented — plants whose traditional uses have been recorded in community-endorsed publications, peer-reviewed ethnobotanical research, and the accounts of Aboriginal knowledge holders who have chosen to share their knowledge more widely. It is necessarily incomplete. The full scope of Aboriginal plant knowledge is far larger than what appears here.
Plants used for food and nutrition
The distinction between food plants and medicine plants is blurrier in Aboriginal tradition than in Western categories. Many plants served both functions, and the nutritional density of traditional bush foods was itself medicinal — maintaining health, immune function and physical capacity in environments that could be harsh and resource-limited.
Wattleseed (Acacia species) — ground and cooked as a staple carbohydrate across much of the continent. High protein (25%), low glycaemic index, significant iron and zinc. The seeds of approximately 30 Acacia species were used as food, typically ground into flour or cooked in coals. Now experiencing a commercial revival in native food products. Also used medicinally — resin from various wattles was applied to wounds as an antiseptic and sealant.
Quandong (Santalum acuminatum) — the bright red fruit of the desert quandong was one of the most important foods in arid Australia. The fruit was eaten fresh or dried for storage, and traded across country. It is high in vitamin C and antioxidants. The seed kernel was also consumed. Medicinally, the leaves and bark were applied to skin conditions and used for pain relief.
Kakadu plum (Terminalia ferdinandiana) — small, pale-green fruit of the Top End, now world-famous for its extraordinary vitamin C content. Eaten fresh, dried or fermented. Used medicinally as a nutritional supplement and for skin conditions. Now the basis of a significant native food and skincare industry — though the benefit-sharing debate about who captures the commercial value remains largely unresolved. Full guide: Kakadu plum.
Bush tomato (Solanum centrale) — small, intensely flavoured fruit native to arid Australia. Traditional staple food dried and eaten or ground into paste. Very high antioxidant content. Now used extensively in native food products — bush tomato paste, relish and seasoning — and is one of the most commercially successful native food ingredients.
Davidson's plum (Davidsonia species) — intensely tart rainforest fruit with one of the highest anthocyanin concentrations measured in any fruit. Traditional food of Queensland communities; now commercially produced for native food and skincare industries.
Finger lime (Microcitrus australasica) — native rainforest citrus with distinctive caviar-like vesicles. Traditional food of coastal Queensland Aboriginal communities. Now a premium food ingredient in restaurants and native food products, and attracting skincare industry interest for its antioxidant profile.
Plants used for medicine
Tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) — arguably the most globally significant medicinal plant to emerge from Aboriginal knowledge. Used by Bundjalung people of the NSW north coast for wound healing, skin infections and respiratory ailments. Now the basis of a global industry generating hundreds of millions of dollars annually — with essentially no benefit-sharing with Bundjalung people. Full history: history of tea tree oil.
Eucalyptus (multiple species) — steam inhalation for respiratory conditions, heated leaf poultices for joint pain and fever, leaf infusions for wound cleaning. The most widespread medicinal plant genus in Australia, with 700+ species used differently by different communities across the continent.
Emu bush (Eremophila species) — leaf poultices for wound healing and skin infections; therapeutic smoking; steam inhalation for respiratory complaints. One of the most important medicinal plants of the arid interior, with growing scientific confirmation of its antimicrobial properties. Full guide: emu bush medicinal uses.
River mint (Mentha australis) — crushed leaves for headaches and insect bites; infusions for colds and respiratory complaints. Lower menthol content than commercial peppermint; gentler and more accessible for sensitive individuals.
Kangaroo apple (Solanum laciniatum) — topical applications for pain and skin conditions; ripe fruit as food. The plant's solasodine content connects it to pharmaceutical steroid hormone production in an unexpected chapter of botanical history. Full guide: kangaroo apple medicinal uses.
Plants used for tools and materials
Aboriginal use of native plants extended far beyond food and medicine to encompass almost every material need of life. Understanding this dimension helps convey the depth of botanical knowledge accumulated across tens of thousands of years.
Paperbark (Melaleuca species) — perhaps the most versatile material plant in northern and eastern Australia. The layered, water-resistant bark was used for shelters, ground sheets, canoes, containers for cooking and carrying water, wrapping for food cooked in ground ovens, and wound dressing and bandaging. The bark's inherent antimicrobial properties made it a medically as well as physically sensible wound covering.
Spinifex (Triodia species) — resin harvested from spinifex grass was one of the most important adhesives in traditional technology, used for hafting stone tools, repairing implements, and waterproofing containers. Spinifex resin continues to attract research interest as a natural polymer with unusual properties.
Grasstrees (Xanthorrhoea species) — sometimes called blackboys, these distinctive plants provided multiple materials: the flowering spike as a spear shaft, the resin as an adhesive, the base as tinder, and the young shoots as food. The resin has been traded for thousands of years and is now used commercially in varnishes and lacquers.
Acacia (Wattle species) — beyond their food use, various wattles provided hard wood for implements and weapons, bark for tanning, gum for adhesives and waterproofing, and fibre for cordage. Some species provided bark for making water-carrying vessels.
Plants used for ceremony and spirituality
Plants in Aboriginal culture were not only practical resources — they were participants in ceremony, embedded in story, connected to Country through Dreaming tracks, and understood as having spiritual dimensions as well as physical ones. Many plants have ceremonial significance that is restricted knowledge — not shared publicly and not appropriate to discuss in detail from outside the relevant communities.
What can be said generally: aromatic plants used in smoking ceremonies include emu bush, various eucalyptus species, and other native aromatics specific to different regions and communities. These smokings serve both cleansing and healing purposes. Many food and medicine plants also appear in story and ceremony, embedded in the knowledge system in ways that connect their practical use to their spiritual significance.
Specific ceremonial plant knowledge belongs to specific communities and is transmitted through appropriate cultural channels — not through general-audience articles. We note its existence here as a reminder that what is publicly documented about Aboriginal plant knowledge is a small subset of the whole.
Why this knowledge matters now
Aboriginal botanical knowledge is not merely historically interesting. It is practically relevant in several ongoing ways. Pharmacological research into Australian native plants repeatedly confirms activity that traditional users identified empirically over millennia — suggesting there is significant undiscovered medicinal potential in under-researched native species. The native food and skincare industries are growing rapidly, generating commercial value from plants whose properties were identified through Aboriginal knowledge — raising urgent questions about intellectual property, benefit-sharing and consent that remain largely unresolved. And the climate and ecological crises are increasing interest in traditional land management practices, including the use of plants for managing fire, water, and soil health, that Aboriginal knowledge holders have practised and maintained for tens of thousands of years.
Engaging with Aboriginal plant knowledge respectfully means recognising all of this: the depth of what exists, the injustices of how it has been treated historically, and the importance of ensuring that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are the primary beneficiaries of any commercial or scientific value derived from it going forward.