Edible roots

Erect, slender perennial herb with thick, tuberous roots widely distributed in open forest, often in moist soil. Found in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Leaves 10 to 30 centimetres long, linear and bluish green. Flowers in loose, branched inflorescences on stalks up to 60 centimetres tall. The individual flowers are three-petalled, two centimetres across and blue or lavender, rarely white. Flowering sometimes initiated by heavy rain. Edible root according to Emerging Indigenous Crops of Australia by John A. Considine. Tim Low in Bush Tucker says “The bunches of slender tubers taste vaguely like coconut”.

Photo: Dick Harding

Seed collecting and propagation

Fruit are egg-shaped capsules, about one centimetre long and contain grey-brown seeds. Propagate from fresh seed.