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@earthlink.net> Date: Thursday, February 5, 2009 3:42 am Subject: Re: [pbs] Australian Ethnobotany To: Pacific Bulb Society <pbs@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@lists.ibiblio.org > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/