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Bunya Pine
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If you've ever been a passenger in my car then you've probably been asked to get out the refedex and mark the location of some bunya pines. These are truly majestic trees. They look like something out of Jurassic Park. Close up, they have very spiky leaves and you will need shoes on if you walk on them. They can be easily spotted from a distance because they tend to be tall and have a characteristic dome shaped profile and unusually deep green foliage. Even if you can't make out the profile due to a green background, you can often pick them out by the colour. The branches grow sideways and get longer over the years, then eventually fall off when they get too long, usually because they get hit by a falling cone. This is why the trees develop the characteristic domed crown, with shorter 'new' branches growing below, again getting longer with age, but not reaching the size of the crown branches.
Every year during January and February they drop large green cones. Inside each cone is 50 or so nuts, each larger than a big thumb. These nuts are best roasted on a fire and will pop after a few minutes. They can also be cooked on a BBQ grill. I have seen pieces of shell hit the roof of a veranda above a BBQ as the nuts pop, so I cover them with an old pan. I usually have some frozen so I can boil them later in the year. This requires a bit more effort as you have to peel each one. Needle nosed pliers work best for this. I then put them in the fridge and use them in just about all of my cooking. I also make a spread for toast by blending them with honey. They are a cheap alternative to pine nuts - see the basil article for a pesto recipe. I have heard them compared to roasted chestnuts, however having never tasted roasted chestnut I cannot verify this. They can be eaten raw when fresh. If you can figure out a way to peel them automatically without damaging them you could make a lot of money, as this is what is currently holding back commercial production.
The Aborigines used to have large gatherings once every three years when there was a bumper crop. This is no doubt a strategy the trees developed to get around the swarms of sulphur crested cockatoos that rip the cones apart while they are still on the tree to get at the nuts. The bunya nut is one of the few foods which the aborigines would harvest in excess of their immediate needs. They would then take them home and bury them in moist soil, then come back in a few months and eat the 'tubers'. When the seeds sprout, they send down a rootstock well before they send anything above the soil surface. They can take up to 6 months to sprout if you plant them. I think 2006 was the last bumper crop in Brisbane.
The trees apparently make good indoor potted plants because of the attractive foliage. They do not drop many leaves.
Do not loiter under the trees when they are in season. The cones are heavy and would do serious damage if they hit you, possibly killing you. Any branches that fall usually fall at this time. Rats and possums like to eat the nuts, so remember to look down as well because there will probably be the odd snake around.
Note that they are not actually a type of pine. They just look like it. The grow in the high country of south east QLD and northern NSW, as well as tropical areas of QLD. They are a hardy tree and need no maintenance once established. They will grow in much colder climates, though I'm not sure whether they would produce nuts.
Most of the bunya nuts that fall in Brisbane end up rotting because people don't collect them. This creates a vermin problem and is a waste, so I have put together a list of locations where you can collect bunya nuts. I hope to extend this to other fruit that grows on public land and isn't harvested, such as surinam cherries.
The photo on the left shows part of the 2006 harvest. OK, so maybe I went a bit overboard! If you collect a lot, make sure you de-husk them (ie remove them from the green cone) as soon as the cone falls apart easily. Otherwise it gets covered in fungus, which makes the job a bit less pleasant. Also, they may start sprouting. Neither of these issues affects the eating quality, however they do not pop on the fire unless they are fresh and they are only viable as seeds for a few months. I tried planting some last year but left it a bit late and none survived. The dehusked nuts above are the fresh 2007 batch. The cooked ones were frozen last year and then boiled, peeled and used in cooking (photo here). You can see how one of them has sprouted.
The main difficulty with bunya nuts is removing the inner cream coloured shell. I use three main methods for shelling and cooking bunya nuts.
The first involves boiling the nuts for half an hour or so on the stove, or cooking them in the microwave for a shorter period. Do not put bunya nuts in the microwave by themselves, as they will explode. the microwave method is quicker, probably uses less energy and can be used with smaller quantities of nuts. Once you have boiled the nuts, use a pair of needle nose pliers to remove the shell. It is easiest if you use a set with a thin nose, as you have to jam one of the jaws into the pointy end of the nut. Once you’ve done that, grip onto the end of the shell and pull it off the nut. You can also rotate the pliers to roll up the shell, like those old sardine cans. The nuts can then be eaten as is, or used in cooking. It doesn’t seem to harm the eating quality if you cook them twice.
Another method is to put a nut onto a block of wood and chop it in half with a machete. A meat clever or tomahawk may be a suitable substitute. You need to do a clean cut all or most of the way through the nut. Obviously, do not attempt to hold the nut while chopping it and keep your free hand well away. (Kids, ask your parents to do this bit for you.) This method is a lot easier, and cleaner too because you do the shelling outside and skip the boiling. I use a deeply serrated steak knife to get the two halves of the nut out of the shell. I usually do four nuts at a time to speed the process up, then count the eight shell halves as I find them spread over the lawn. The nuts still have to be cooked. This method may not be suitable if you are using them in a quick stir fry. If this is the case, try chopping them into smaller pieces and adding them at the start of the cooking. In fact, you should add them at the start no matter what you are cooking them with.
By far the easiest method is to cook them in a fire on a BBQ grill over a high flame. Fresh bunya nuts will split open or even explode. You may want to wear eye protection when doing this and or cover them with a pot or something. The nuts will be slightly burned in places. For eating the nuts by themselves, this gives the best flavour.
Bunya nuts can be frozen, but they may not pop open as nicely on a fire if they aren’t fresh. If you keep them to long, especially inside the cone, they will sprout. The sprouts are edible and I treat them the same way as the nuts.
Bunya nuts can be blended with honey to make a nice spread for sandwiches and toast. They are a cheap substitute for pine nuts in pesto (see recipe in basil article). They can be eaten raw when fresh, but are much better cooked. I have heard anecdotal evidence of people getting sick from raw nuts, but I don’t know how fresh they were.
A * indicates that it may not be productive, or the council removes the cones. A # indicates that it may be on private land. Please submit any corrections or new trees via email.
Brisbane southside
Chelmer, cnr Roseberry and Warf st. Three very productive tress, nuts were not collected last year.
*Chelmer, plum ridge st (Graceville memorial park), about 20 trees. I found one small cone under one.
#Chelmer, Richmond st, 1 tree
Sherwood, Egmont st cemetary, 1 tree, productive
Sherwood, cnr Oxley creek and Sherwood rd, 1 tree
Graceville, Simpson's playground, near pamphlet bridge, 1 tree, productive, there are also some big mango trees here
Salisbury, cnr Riawena and Orange grove road, 1 tree
Salisbury, Tucket road, 1 tree
Yeerongpilly, Stamford st, 1 tree
Yeeronga, William pde, 2 trees
West End pocket, Hove st, 1 tree
West End pocket, Ferry st, 3 trees, productive
*Musgrave park, 11 trees
Brisbane northside
*QUT Botanic Gardens, many trees
Herston, Gilchrist av, 1 tree, also more opposite RBH?
Hamilton, Annie st, 1 tree
Auchenflower, Wesley hospital, 3 trees, small cones
#Auchenflower, Howard st
*Paddington, Carolyn st
Toowong, Herbert st, 1 tree
Toowong, Sir Fred Schonell drive and glenolive lne
*Mt Coot-tha botanical gardens
Indooroopilly, Meiers rd and Cadiz st, 1 tree, 1 more on left further out (over creek), 1 in Sir John Chandler park
Indooroopilly, Thomas park Bougainvillea Gardens, 3 trees
Indooroopilly, Harts rd, 7 trees
Indooroopilly, Hunter st, 1 tree
Brookfield, Ground rd and Wybelenna st, 2 trees
north of Brisbane
Sunshine coast, pacific hwy
Cooroy railway station
Gympie, pacific hwy
Yarraman, D'Aguilar hwy (note this is getting close to the Bunya mountains)
Nanango south, D'Aguilar hwy, 12 trees?
Nanango north, Burnett hwy
NSW, Orange
There are two trees growing in the city of Orange NSW. One is in Cook
Park and will be 100 odd years old. Another grows behind the Fire
station and is fully grown also.
Once, in 1974, I did find a fully formed cone, just one and just once.
Orange suffers frosts to minus 5 regularly and still the trees will
produce fruit, albeit, infrequently.
I have a nice specimen in a pot now about 5 years old and very statley it is. - Len Warren
Araucaria bidwillii is a species in the genus Araucaria, family Araucariaceae. It is a large evergreen coniferous tree, native to eastern Australia in southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales. It is an evergreen tree that reaches heights of 30-40 m.
The cones are 20-35 cm in diameter, and disintegrate when mature to release the large (3-4 cm) seeds. The seeds are edible, similar to pine nuts, and are an important food resource for Australian Aboriginal people; groves of the trees are often under particular tribal ownership. They are eaten both raw and cooked. Traditionally they were also ground and made into a paste, which was eaten directly or cooked in hot coals to make bread.
The vernacular name is Bunya or Bunya-bunya, from the Australian Aboriginal name for the tree; it is also often called Bunya Pine (though this is inaccurate as it is not a pine), or a "Bunya Nut" tree.
The cotyledons are hypogeal, remaining below the ground. Bunya nuts are slow to germinate. A set of 12 seeds sown in Melbourne took on average about six months to germinate (with the first germinating in 3 months) and only developed roots until 1 year. The first leaves form a rosette and are dark brown. The leaves only turn green once the first stem branch occurs. Unlike the mature leaves, the young leaves are relatively soft. As the leaves age they become very hard and sharp.
Once established Bunyas are quite hardy and can be grown as far south as Hobart in Australia and Christchurch in New Zealand.
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