Guide to Useful Native Plants from Eastern Temperate Australia
Second Edition By: Judith Caton, Richard Hardwick
An easy-to-use guide to over 150 native Australian plants used as food, fibre and medicine.
Guide to Useful Native Plants from Eastern Temperate Australia is an easy-to-use guide to over 150 plants, extending from Brisbane to the Victorian–South Australian border. It includes detailed descriptions of each species, illustrated with around 600 colour photos and drawings, which will enable easy identification. It also features distribution maps, alongside information on a wide range of uses of native plants as food, fibre and medicine. + Full description
This guide will be of interest to people who live in the eastern temperate region, including native plant enthusiasts, bushwalkers, educators, botanical artists, archaeologists and chefs, as well as the many tourists visiting the region. The second edition presents up-to-date taxonomy and has been revised and rewritten for clarity and consistency.
- Short descriptionDetails
Paperback | November 2026 | $ 59.99ISBN: 9781486319336 | 424 pages | 215 x 148 mm
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Colour photographs, Maps
Features
- Over 150 native plant species from the temperate region of south-eastern Australia are covered in detail, with 600 colour photographs, as well as drawings and distribution maps, to aid identification in the field.
- Information on a wide range of uses for native plants as food, fibre and medicine is given, including notes on preparation.
- Based on a 20-year partnership photographing, describing and using plants across the temperate region of south-eastern Australia.
- Presents valuable information about common plant species before the catastrophic fires and floods of recent years.
- This guide will be of interest to anyone who lives in or visits the area, as well as bushwalkers, educators, archaeologists and chefs.
Contents
AcknowledgementsDisclaimer
Cultural sensitivity warning
Nomenclature changes
Introduction
Hazards in the bush
How to use this Guide
Uses of native plants
Structure of flowering plants
Part 1 Plants of the beaches, estuaries and saltwater lagoons
Part 2 Plants of grasslands and woodlands
Part 3 Plants of freshwater lakes, dams, rivers and swamps
Part 4 Plants of temperate rainforests
Part 5 Plants of tall forests (wet sclerophyll forests)
Part 6 Plants of dry forests (dry sclerophyll forests)
Part 7 Parasitic plants
Appendix I: Insect resources
Appendix II: Edibility testing
Botanical glossary
Chemical glossary
Medical glossary
Bibliography and further reading
Plant-use index
Common name index
Scientific name index
Authors
Judith Caton’s interest in the uses of native plants resulted from her studies of primate diets and the comparisons with forager and modern human diets. The need to collect plant food eaten by Aboriginal peoples led to her collaboration with Richard Hardwick.
Richard Hardwick's first book, Nature’s Larder, a guide to the plant foods of the NSW South Coast, was published in 2000. His interest in the use of native plants has expanded from foods to their uses as sources of fibre and medicine.
The 20-year collaboration between Judith and Richard continues with their ongoing study of the uses of wild-growing plants, both native and introduced species.
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