Ancient Aboriginal medicinal knowledge using local trees rescued by scientific research

A new study has rediscovered ancient records of indigenous culture using gum from lemon-scented gums to treat toothache and water from Angophora and ironbarks bark reported to be an appetite suppressant.

An eucalyptus at sunset.

Eucalypt trees have provided everything from medicines to tools, traps and building materials for thousands of years in Aboriginal communities, according to rediscovered records of regional indigenous knowledge.

The University of Queensland’s Associate Professor Rod Fensham has cross-referenced species data with the records of Gairabau, a Dungidau man, and German explorer Ludwig Leichhardt, who travelled with Aboriginal people through the region in the mid-nineteenth century.

Dr Fensham has verified his findings with contemporary indigenous community members, and said he was blown away by the versatility of eucalypts in the south east corner.

“Our local eucalypts are an incredible resource, once used for utensils, dyes, medicine, chewing gum, fish traps, embalming, smoke signalling and also playing a role in the ‘bush calendar’,” Dr Fensham said.

Eastern rosella feeding in a lemon-scented gum tree. Photo by Dale Turner

“The swollen trunks of Angophora (a genus of nine species of trees and shrubs in the myrtle family) and ironbarks contained lifesaving water, water which was even reported to be an appetite suppressant.

“Eucalyptus crebra was turned into an ash that was applied to women’s breasts to purify breastmilk and the gum from Corymbia citriodora (Lemon-scented gum) was used to treat toothache.

“Many of these insights – and dozens more – have never before been published, with records just sitting in storage.”

The study focused on South East Queensland’s eucalypt trees, but Prof Fenshan said the same trees exist in Northern NSW, albeit with Bundjalung, Ngarabal and Gumbainggir names.

“Many of the trees are also in (that) area, and the uses would be similar,” he said.

“However, (they are) in a different language group down there, so the names would be different.”

A map of Ludwig Leichhardt's overland expedition. Photo: State Library of NSW collections

One critical resource was the diaries and letters of Ludwig Leichhardt, who first arrived in Moreton Bay in June 1843.

“Leichhardt’s guides meticulously explained how to identify eucalypts, not only the bark, but also the number of flowers, leaf shape, the leaf venation, the angularity of the juvenile stems, habitat associations, you name it,” Dr Fensham said.

“Very few of the local eucalypts had been formally described with scientific names at that point, so Leichhardt diligently recorded their Aboriginal names.

“By reviewing these records, we’re finally able to associate the indigenous names of the eucalypts with their current scientific names – it’s a boost for botanists in this part of Australia.”

A 1957 interview with Gairabau, a Dungidau (the Kilcoy region) man with the Western name Willie Mackenzie, was another critical resource.

“Gairabau was an incredibly knowledgeable man, providing great verification and insight to our other records,” Dr Fensham said.

“He was fluent in the Wakka dialect, Duungidjawu, and born near Kilcoy around 1880.

“His Country overlapped with some of the areas in southeast Queensland where Leichhardt travelled with his informants.”

The research was published in the Australian Journal of Botany.