Family: AURICARIACEAE
A native, evergreen of south eastern Queensland in Australia, the bunya bunya is an erect conifer, reaching a height of up to 30 - 45 m with a spread of 10 m. The trunk can grow up to 1.5 m in diameter. It is frost tolerant and prefers a humid climate with rainfalls varying from 900 - 2000 mm. It usually grows as an emergent over tropical forest.
It is tolerant of soil types, as long as it has plenty of moisture and adequate drainage. It is frost tolerant to - 4oC.
The nut of the bunya bunya can grow as large as a walnut and is rich in starch. The tree was once plentiful and the nut was eaten, both raw and roasted, by the Aborigines. The Aboriginal name for the tree was bon -yi. The preferred food from the bunya bunya was the secondary food store which develops below the ground after the seed germinates.
The nuts can be used as a flour or boiled in their shells for about 20 mins and eaten hot. Nuts are likely to explode when being roasted.
The nuts are produced in large cones (up to 30 cm in diameter and weighing up to 7 kg) in late summer and autumn. The tree produces a litter which is very prickly and cones falling from the tree can be hazardous. Not the kind of tree for the back yard.
The timber is a white softwood and highly prized. Resin is harvested from injuries to the trunk and used by the Aborigines as a glue. Propagation is by seed, by cuttings from young branches and from suckers. The bark contains 10% tannin.