Native Plants, Foods and Medicinal Elements
Native Foods of Victoria: Country, Knowledge, and the Nourishment of Life
For tens of thousands of years, the Indigenous peoples of Victoria — including the Wadawurrung, Wurundjeri, Taungurung, Dja Dja Wurrung, Gunditjmara, Gunaikurnai, and Yorta Yorta Nations — lived in intricate relationship with the land and waters. Their food systems were not based on farming in the European sense, but on deep ecological management — tending, harvesting, and regenerating plants and animals within seasonal and spiritual law.
Food was Country: an expression of law, identity, and balance. Every root, berry, fish, and animal had a time and place, a story and responsibility. This knowledge, passed through story, ceremony, and practice, formed one of the oldest sustainable food cultures on Earth.
This article explores the diversity of native foods of Victoria — their ecological foundations, cultural roles, and continuing revival in the hands of Traditional Owners today.
Country and the Law of Seasons
In Indigenous knowledge systems, food was guided by seasonal calendars — cycles tied to flowering plants, animal migrations, and the movement of stars.
For the Wadawurrung, six seasons defined life around the Barwon River, Bellarine Peninsula, and volcanic plains:
Kuyak (hot season) – fruits ripened; seafood and coastal foods were abundant.
Bullarto (dry season) – grass seeds and yam roots were gathered.
Poorneet (tadpole season) – rains began; eels and fish were caught in wetlands.
Gneepera (cold season) – hunting focused on kangaroo, wallaby, and possum.
Larneuk (nesting season) – birds’ eggs and greens were collected.
Petyan (warm season) – flowers bloomed; new plant shoots signalled renewal.
Each season guided not only what to eat but when to harvest, burn, or rest Country — ensuring food never ran out.
Land Foods: Roots, Seeds, and Fruits
Murnong (Microseris walteri) — The Yam Daisy
The most important staple of southern Victoria, murnong grew thickly across grasslands and volcanic soils. Women used digging sticks to lift the tubers, leaving part of each plant to regrow — a practice akin to regenerative agriculture (Gott 2019; Pascoe 2014). Roasted or baked, the yam was sweet and filling, forming the base of meals and ceremony.
Murnong fields once stretched across Wadawurrung Country, particularly around Lal Lal, Bannockburn, and Breamlea, where women’s digging lines were described as "rows like gardens" by early settlers (Howitt 1904).
Wattleseeds (Acacia spp.)
Seeds from Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha), Black Wattle (A. mearnsii), and other species were harvested, dried, and ground into flour for high-protein cakes.
Rich in fibre and low in fat, wattleseeds remain a prized ingredient in modern bushfood cuisine. The wattle’s flowering also signalled seasonal changes — a cultural calendar for hunting and gathering.
Nardoo (Marsilea drummondii)
This clover-like aquatic fern thrived in inland wetlands. Seeds were ground and baked into thin cakes after careful preparation to remove toxins. Among the Yorta Yorta and Wemba Wemba peoples, nardoo was a vital survival food during floods and droughts — a symbol of adaptation and respect for water Country.
Native Berries and Fruits
Victoria’s coastal and forest zones provided an array of seasonal fruits:
Native Raspberry (Rubus parvifolius) — eaten fresh or dried for travel.
Cherry Ballart (Exocarpos cupressiformis) — sweet fruit used for nourishment and ceremony.
Quandong (Santalum acuminatum) — valued for its tart red fruit and oil-rich kernel.
Kangaroo Apple (Solanum aviculare) — eaten only when ripe, also used as women’s medicine.
Pigface (Carpobrotus rossii) — coastal fruit eaten fresh; leaves used as natural aloe for burns.
Bearded Heath (Leucopogon parviflorus) — white berries eaten in moderation, symbolising purity and renewal.
These plants connected families to Country through colour, flavour, and spiritual story.
Greens and Vegetables
Warrigal Cabbage (Tetragonia tetragonioides) — a coastal spinach rich in minerals, boiled or steamed.
Lomandra (L. longifolia) — shoots eaten raw; roots boiled for medicine.
Native Leek (Bulbine bulbosa) — bulbs roasted for their mild onion flavour.
Native Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) — eaten as a green vegetable or ground for seed flour.
These greens reflected a sophisticated plant science — Indigenous people knew which parts were edible, which required cooking, and how to ensure plants regenerated.
Grasslands and Seeds: Indigenous Agriculture
Across Victoria’s basalt plains, kangaroo grass, wallaby grass, and native millet (Panicum decompositum) were managed through fire and harvesting.
Seeds were collected, parched, and ground using stone mills into a nutritious flour.
Recent research shows this system was a form of agriculture — a deliberate cultivation of grasslands that sustained large communities for millennia (Pascoe 2014; CSIRO 2020).
Fire-stick farming maintained open plains for kangaroo grazing while encouraging new grass growth — linking human activity to ecological renewal.
Water Foods: Rivers, Lakes, and Coasts
Eels (Anguilla australis)
In the wetlands of south-west Victoria, the Gunditjmara people created the world’s oldest known aquaculture system at Budj Bim, using basalt channels, traps, and weirs to farm and smoke eels.
Eels provided food, trade, and ceremony, their migration marking seasonal change and spiritual renewal (UNESCO 2019).
Wadawurrung and Wurundjeri peoples also trapped eels in creeks and billabongs using woven baskets made from reeds and rushes.
Fish and Shellfish
Murray cod, bream, and perch were caught with spears or nets.
Crayfish and mussels were collected from rivers and cooked in coals.
Abalone, oysters, and limpets lined coastal middens — evidence of continuous occupation over thousands of years.
Along the Bellarine Peninsula and Bass Strait, coastal peoples such as the Boon Wurrung and Wadawurrung relied on tidal rhythms and shellfish cycles as part of their food calendars (Museums Victoria 2023).
Meat and Game: Land Foods
Kangaroo, Wallaby, and Emu
These animals were staples of inland and coastal Victoria.
Kangaroo meat, lean and high in iron, was roasted or baked in earth ovens, with tails considered a delicacy.
Emu eggs, rich and nourishing, were cooked in ashes; the fat was used for medicine and trade.
Every hunt was ceremonial — guided by totemic law ensuring no over-harvesting.
Possum and Small Marsupials
Possums provided both meat and warm skins for cloaks, vital during winter.
Wallabies, wombats, and bandicoots were hunted carefully, often flushed from scrub using controlled fire.
Dogs assisted in the chase, and each kill was shared according to kinship law — ensuring balance and respect.
Birds and Eggs
Seasonal harvesting of eggs — from swans, ducks, and seabirds — provided essential nutrients.
In coastal areas, muttonbird chicks and gull eggs were roasted or boiled, always leaving enough for renewal.
This practice reflected deep ecological ethics: take only what is needed, and never before the season’s right time.
Flavour, Health, and Nutrition
Indigenous food systems were nutritionally complete and ecologically balanced.
High protein, low fat: Kangaroo, emu, and fish meats.
Complex carbohydrates: Murnong, nardoo, and grass seed breads.
Natural sugars: Fruits like native raspberry and pigface.
Vitamins and minerals: Leafy greens, wattleseeds, and shellfish.
Cooking methods such as earth ovens, smoking, and leaf steaming preserved nutrients while enhancing flavour — techniques now recognised in modern bush cuisine.
Wadawurrung Country: Food, Fire, and Connection
On Wadawurrung Country, the landscape was itself a living pantry — a network of rivers, grasslands, and coastal dunes providing seasonal abundance:
Eels and blackfish from the Barwon and Moorabool rivers.
Murnong and lomandra roots from volcanic plains.
Kangaroo, wallaby, and emu from open forests.
Shellfish and pigface fruit along Breamlea and Lake Connewarre.
Native berries and greens in post-fire regrowth zones.
Wadawurrung people managed these systems with fire, ceremony, and gratitude — expressing food not as consumption, but as relationship.
Each harvest was a renewal of connection between human and land, reinforcing the law of Dja (Country) and Ngobarr (respect).
Impact of Colonisation
Colonisation disrupted every layer of Indigenous food life:
Grazing animals destroyed yam fields and native grasses.
Weeds and introduced species replaced edible plants.
Access to rivers and coasts was restricted, cutting off fish and eel harvests.
Mission diets of flour, sugar, and salted meat replaced traditional nutrition, causing long-term health decline.
The loss of food knowledge mirrored the loss of sovereignty — the right to live according to Country’s law.
Revival and Cultural Renewal
Today, Traditional Owners and community groups are leading a renaissance of native food knowledge:
Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation runs food and plant education programs around Geelong and the Bellarine.
Gunditjmara at Budj Bim continue eel smoking and aquaculture education for schools.
Wurundjeri and Taungurung Land Councils are reviving murnong, lomandra, and bush plum gardens.
Indigenous chefs, growers, and educators — such as those in the Bushfood Victoria Network — are blending traditional foods with contemporary cuisine.
These movements are acts of healing — restoring not only biodiversity but the cultural identity of Country.
The Science of Indigenous Food Systems
Modern ecological and nutritional science confirms the sophistication of Indigenous food systems:
Sustainability: Harvesting methods ensured plant regeneration and population stability.
Permaculture principles: Diversity of species created resilient food webs.
Nutritional balance: Diets were rich in omega-3s, protein, and complex carbohydrates.
Environmental management: Fire-stick farming maintained soil fertility and biodiversity (CSIRO 2020).
What Western science calls “environmental management” was, in truth, a way of life — an intergenerational dialogue between people and place.
Conclusion
The native foods of Victoria are more than plants and animals — they are expressions of law, respect, and reciprocity.
From the murnong fields of Wadawurrung Country to the eel traps of Budj Bim, these foods tell a story of knowledge refined over millennia, rooted in care for life itself.
Though colonisation sought to sever these systems, they endure — in gardens, ceremonies, and classrooms where Elders teach the next generation to listen, taste, and tend.
Reviving native foods is not simply about diet or economy; it is a return to balance — a way to feed both Country and spirit.
References
Atkinson, J 2002, Trauma Trails: Recreating Song Lines, Spinifex Press, Melbourne.
Clarke, PA 2009, Australian Aboriginal Ethnobotany: An Overview, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.
CSIRO 2020, Australian Native Foods and Traditional Land Management, CSIRO Publishing, Canberra.
DEECA Victoria 2022, Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Indigenous Food Systems in Victoria, Department of Energy, Environment & Climate Action, Melbourne.
Gott, B 2019, The Yam Daisy: A History of Aboriginal Plant Use in Victoria, Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra.
Howitt, AW 1904, The Native Tribes of South-East Australia, Macmillan, London.
Museums Victoria 2023, Aboriginal Food and Plant Use Collections, Museums Victoria, Melbourne.
Pascoe, B 2014, Dark Emu: Aboriginal Australia and the Birth of Agriculture, Magabala Books, Broome.
UNESCO 2019, Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, World Heritage Centre, Paris.
Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria (RBGV) 2023, Flora and Bushfoods of Victoria, RBGV, Melbourne.
Written, Researched, and Directed by James Vegter (27 October 2025)
MLA — Magic Lands Alliance
Sharing the truth of Indigenous and colonial history through film, education, land, and community.
www.magiclandsalliance.org
Copyright MLA – 2025
Magic Lands Alliance acknowledges the Traditional Owners, Custodians, and First Nations communities across Australia and internationally. We honour their enduring connection to the sky, land, waters, language, and culture. We pay respect to Elders past, present, and emerging, and to all First Peoples’ communities and language groups. This article draws only on publicly available information; many cultural practices remain the intellectual property of their respective communities.