MEDICINAL PLANTS IN AUSTRALIA

Volume 3 Plants, Potions & Poisons

by CHERYLL WILLIAMS

To see other Bush Food books click here

New hardcover book, 472 pages, lots of full-colour photos. Published July 2012.

The Australian flora was largely unknown to the early explorers. Much of it was simply unfathomable, which made comparisons with more familiar plants somewhat risky.

Plants defend themselves against predators, including man. There are obvious defences such as stinging nettle-like strategies, and burning or blistering latex resins. Others use different methods to incapacitate. They include gastrointestinal distress (vomiting or purgation), blindness, neurological disability, or even asphyxia. This clearly illustrates the ingenuity of plant chemistry which, while daunting, has lead to some rather extraordinary discoveries.

In the search for food some of the earliest poisonous plants utilised were fish poisons (piscicides). A range of these toxins are found in the Australian flora. A need to find staple dietary items, notably root crops, with low toxicity such as starchy yam tubers was imperative. Under cultivation, certain species gradually survived a selection process that sought less toxic varieties and high-yielding crop candidates. Some herbs such as the tomato, were found to yield palatable fruits when they ripened – although not all plants, even if they looked the same, lost their toxicity during the process.

The poisonous potential of numerous plants coincided with a medicinal effect that could not be ignored. What was the difference between a poisonous, edible or therapeutic effect? These discoveries were not only pivotal for the remedial use of many plants - they were to open up entire new realms of chemical discovery that has had enormous ramifications for the world of medicine, and the culinary arts.

Contents include:

• Tales of Misadventure
• The Art of Detoxification: Refining Toxic Plants
• Convolvulaceae: Medicinal Bushfoods
• Caustics and Corrosives
• Culinary Curiosities: Tasty Tomatoes and Psychotic Potatoes
• Aroid: Irritant Poisons
• Foaming Fish Poisons
• Drugs from Ichythyotoxins
• Poisonous Pteridophyta
• Cycads: Prehistoric Survivors
• Neurotoxins: Plants of Perilous Consequence
• Resources and index

The other books in the 4-volume series are: Medicinal Plants in Australia Volume 1: Bush Pharmacy, which presents the medicinal history of Australia's flora, its contributions to everyday life, and its future potential. Medicinal Plants in Australia Volume 2 : Gums, Resins, Tannin and Essential Oils looks in greater detail at the main products of commercial and medicinal value from the Australian flora. Volume 3 deals with toxic plants and medicines. Volume 4 moves to a unique aspect of the flora - ancient species from the rainforests and tropical regions.

About the author

Cheryll Williams has over 25 years of clinical experience in herbal and nutritional medicine, homeopathy and acupuncture. She holds a diploma in Herbal Medicine and post-graduate diploma in Nutritional Medicine, two diplomas in Homoeopathy, and a Bachelor's degree in Acupuncture. She has previously published a series of articles on medicinal plants in Australian Wellbeing magazine, and is currently working with Wildlife Rescue in the tropical rainforest. Cheryll's other books in the Medicinal Plants in Australia series are also available - click on each title below for more information

Medicinal Plants in Australia Volume 1: Bush Pharmacy

Medicinal Plants in Australia Volume 2 : Gums, Resins, Tannin and Essential Oils

See other Australian books click here

Medicinal Plants in Australia Vol 3: Plants, Potions and Poisons by Cheryll Williams