Off Topic San Marcos Growers - Regnellidium
Steven (Thu, 05 Jan 2012 04:40:12 PST)
On 05/01/2012, at 8:19 PM, Shelley Gage <s.gage100@hotmail.com> wrote:
I googled this fern and was interested to see it is related to the Australian nardoo
I thought I recognized it I'n the Nardoo family..some might find this interesting. Hope my primary school memories are up to scratch today.
These little floating ferns are highly toxic, & Nardoo is famous for the roll that it played during the expedition of Burke & Wills, across unexplored Australia from Melbourne to The Gulf of Carpinteria I'n the far north from memory.
When they were exhausted & overwhelmed by starvation they observed the Aborigines, painstakingly processing the Nardoo's Sporocarps, to reduce levels of Thiamiase, a vitamin B depleting toxin. Desperation & lack of processing by leaching I'n water properly, was most likely the final straw. Burke & Wills died soon after encountering this toxic plant as a food source.
Steven
Australia