1.
Bushmeat
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Bushmeat, wildmeat, or game meat is meat from non-domesticated mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds hunted for food in tropical forests. Commercial harvesting and the trade of wildlife is considered a threat to biodiversity, bushmeat also provides a route for a number of serious tropical diseases to spread to humans from their animal hosts. Bushmeat is used for sustenance in remote areas, while in major towns, today the term bushmeat is commonly used for meat of terrestrial wild or feral mammals, killed for sustenance or commercial purposes throughout the humid tropics of the Americas, Asia, and Africa. In West Africa, Achatina achatina, a giant African snail, is gathered, sold, eaten. To reflect the nature of hunting of wild animals, Resolution 2.64 of the IUCN General Assembly in Amman in October 2000 referred to wild meat rather than bushmeat. A more worldwide term for wild animals is game. The term bushmeat crisis is sometimes used to describe unsustainable hunting of endangered wild mammals in West and Central Africa. African hunting predates recorded history, by the 21st century, it had become an international issue, the volume of the bushmeat trade in West and Central Africa was estimated at 1-5 million tonnes per year at the turn of the century. According to the Center for International Forestry Research in 2014, approximately 5 million tonnes were still being consumed per year in the Congo Basin, for the people of this region, bushmeat represents a primary source of animal protein in the diet, making it a significant commercial industry. According to a 1994 study in Gabon, annual sales were estimated at US$50 million, the study found that bushmeat accounted for more than half of meat sold in local markets, with primates representing 20% of the total bushmeat. Logging concessions operated by companies in African forests have been linked to the bushmeat trade. Because they provide roads, trucks and other access to forests, they are the primary means for the transportation of hunters. Numerous solutions are needed, because each country has different circumstances, traditions and laws, in the case of Ghana, international over-exploitation of African fishing grounds has increased demand for bushmeat. Both EU-subsidized fleets and local commercial fleets have depleted fish stocks, over 30 years of data link sharp declines in both mammal populations and the biomass of 41 wildlife species with a decreased supply of fish. In the case of Liberia in West Africa, bushmeat is eaten widely and is considered a delicacy, a 2004 public opinion survey found that bushmeat ranked second behind fish among residents of the capital Monrovia as a preferred source of protein. Of households where bushmeat was served, 80% of residents said they cooked it once in a while, while 13% cooked it once a week, the survey was conducted during the last civil war, and bushmeat consumption is now believed to be far higher. The transmission of highly variable retrovirus chains causes zoonotic diseases, outbreaks of the Ebola virus in the Congo Basin and in Gabon in the 1990s have been associated with the butchering of apes and consumption of their meat. Bushmeat hunters in Central Africa infected with the human T-lymphotropic virus were closely exposed to wild primates, there are several distinct strains of HIV, indicating that this cross-species transfer has occurred several times
2.
Aboriginal Australians
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Aboriginal Australians are legally defined as people who are members of the Aboriginal race of Australia. Until the 1980s, the legal and administrative criterion for inclusion in this category was race. In the era of colonial and post-colonial government, access to human rights depended upon your race. If you were a full blooded Aboriginal native, the Constitution of Australia, in its original form as of 1901, referred to Aboriginals twice, but without definition. Section 51 gave the Commonwealth parliament power to legislate with respect to the people of any throughout the Commonwealth. The purpose of this provision was to give the Commonwealth power to regulate non-white immigrant workers, the only other reference, Section 127, provided simply that aboriginal natives shall not be counted in reckoning the size of the population of the Commonwealth or any part of it. The purpose of section 127 was to prevent the inclusion of Aboriginal people in section 24 determinations of the distribution of House of Representatives seats amongst the states and territories, after both of these references were removed by the 1967 referendum, the Australian Constitution had no references to Aboriginals. Since that time, there have been a number of proposals to amend the constitution to specifically mention Indigenous Australians, the change to Section 51 gave the Commonwealth parliament the power to make laws specifically with respect to Aboriginal peoples as a race. The case concerned an application of legislation that would preserve cultural heritage of Aboriginal Tasmanians and it was held that Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders, together or separately, and any part of either, could be regarded as a race for this purpose. As to the criteria for identifying a person as a member of such a race, Deane said, It is unnecessary, for the purposes of the present case, to consider the meaning to be given to the phrase people of any race in s.51. Plainly, the words have a wide and non-technical meaning, the phrase is, in my view, apposite to refer to all Australian Aboriginals collectively. Any doubt, which might otherwise exist in regard, is removed by reference to the wording of par. The phrase is also apposite to refer to any identifiable racial sub-group among Australian Aboriginals, while Deanes three-part definition reaches beyond the biological criterion to individuals self-identification, it has been criticised as continuing to accept the biological criterion as primary. It has been difficult to apply, both in each of its parts and as to the relations among the parts, biological descent has been a fall-back criterion. If it is to be used to refer to us as a group of people. This has just really crept up on us and we are very happy with our involvement with indigenous people around the world, on the international forum because theyre our brothers and sisters. But we do object to it being used here in Australia and her lecture offered a new perspective on the terms urban, traditional and of Indigenous descent as used to define and categorise Aboriginal Australians. She said, Not only are these categories inappropriate, they serve to divide us, governments insistence on categorising us with modern words like urban, traditional and of Aboriginal descent are really only replacing old terms half-caste and full-blood – based on our colouring
3.
Emu
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The emu is the second-largest living bird by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird, the emus range covers most of mainland Australia, but the Tasmanian emu and King Island emu subspecies became extinct after the European settlement of Australia in 1788. The bird is common for it to be rated as a least-concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Emus are soft-feathered, brown, flightless birds with long necks and legs, Emus can travel great distances, and when necessary can sprint at 50 km/h, they forage for a variety of plants and insects, but have been known to go for weeks without eating. They drink infrequently, but take in copious amounts of water when the opportunity arises, breeding takes place in May and June, and fighting among females for a mate is common. Females can mate several times and lay clutches of eggs in one season. The male does the incubation, during this process he hardly eats or drinks, the eggs hatch after around eight weeks, and the young are nurtured by their fathers. They reach full size after around six months, but can remain as a unit until the next breeding season. The emu is an important cultural icon of Australia, appearing on the coat of arms, the bird features prominently in Indigenous Australian mythology. The birds were known on the eastern coast before 1788, when the first Europeans settled there, total length seven feet two inches. The long spines which are seen in the wings of the sort, are in this not observable. The legs are stout, formed much as in the Galeated Cassowary, the species was named by ornithologist John Latham in 1790 based on a specimen from the Sydney area of Australia, a country which was known as New Holland at the time. In his original 1816 description of the emu, the French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot used two names, first Dromiceius and later Dromaius. Most modern publications, including those of the Australian government, use Dromaius, another theory is that it comes from the word ema, which is used in Portuguese to denote a large bird akin to an ostrich or crane. In Victoria, some terms for the emu were Barrimal in the Dja Dja Wurrung language, myoure in Gunai, the birds were known as murawung or birabayin to the local Eora and Darug inhabitants of the Sydney basin. The emu was long classified, with its closest relatives the cassowaries, in the family Casuariidae, however, an alternate classification was proposed in 2014 by Mitchell et al. based on analysis of mitochondrial DNA. This splits off the Casuariidae into their own order, the Casuariformes, the cladogram shown below is from their study. Two different Dromaius species were present in Australia at the time of European settlement, the insular dwarf emus, D. baudinianus and D. n. minor, originally present on Kangaroo Island and King Island respectively, both became extinct shortly after the arrival of Europeans
4.
Crocodile
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Crocodiles or true crocodiles are large aquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. Crocodylinae, all of whose members are considered true crocodiles, is classified as a biological subfamily, a broader sense of the term crocodile, Crocodylidae that includes Tomistoma, is not used in this article. The term crocodile here applies only to the species within the subfamily of Crocodylinae, although they appear to be similar to the untrained eye, crocodiles, alligators and the gharial belong to separate biological families. The gharial having a narrow snout is easier to distinguish, while morphological differences are more difficult to spot in crocodiles and alligators. The most obvious differences are visible in the head with crocodiles having narrower and longer heads, with a more V-shaped than a U-shaped snout compared to alligators. Also, when the mouth is closed, the large fourth tooth in the lower jaw fits into a constriction in the upper jaw. For hard-to-distinguish specimens, the tooth is the most reliable feature to define the family that the species belongs to. Crocodiles have more webbing on the toes of the feet and can better tolerate saltwater due to specialized salt glands for filtering out salt. Another trait that separates crocodiles from other crocodilians is their higher levels of aggression. Crocodile size, morphology, behaviour and ecology somewhat differs between species, however, they have many similarities in these areas as well. All crocodiles are semiaquatic and tend to congregate in freshwater such as rivers, lakes, wetlands. They are carnivorous animals, feeding mostly on such as fish, reptiles, birds and mammals. All crocodiles are tropical species that, unlike alligators, are sensitive to cold. They separated from other crocodilians during the Eocene epoch, about 55 million years ago, many species are at the risk of extinction, some being classified as critically endangered. The word crocodile comes from the Ancient Greek κροκόδιλος, lizard, used in the phrase ho krokódilos tou potamoú, there are several variant Greek forms of the word attested, including the later form κροκόδειλος found cited in many English reference works. In the Koine Greek of Roman times, crocodilos and crocodeilos would have been pronounced identically, crocodilos or crocodeilos is a compound of krokè, and drilos/dreilos, although drilos is only attested as a colloquial term for penis. It is ascribed to Herodotus, and supposedly describes the habits of the Egyptian crocodile. The form crocodrillus is attested in Medieval Latin and it is not clear whether this is a medieval corruption or derives from alternative Greco-Latin forms
5.
Goanna
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A goanna is any of several Australian monitor lizards of the genus Varanus, as well as certain species from Southeast Asia. Around 30 species of goanna are known,25 of which are found in Australia and this varied group of carnivorous reptiles ranges greatly in size and fills several ecological niches. The goanna features prominently in Aboriginal mythology and Australian folklore, being predatory lizards, goannas are often quite large, or at least bulky, with sharp teeth and claws. The largest is the perentie, which can grow over 2.5 m in length, pygmy goannas may be smaller than a mans arm. The smallest of these, the short-tailed monitor reaches only 20 cm in length and they survive on smaller prey, such as insects and mice. Goannas combine predatory and scavenging behaviours, a goanna will prey on any animal it can catch and is small enough to eat whole. Goannas have been blamed for the death of sheep by farmers, though most likely erroneously, most goannas are dark-coloured, with greys, browns, blacks and greens featuring prominently, however, white is also common. Many desert-dwelling species also feature yellow-red tones, camouflage ranges from bands and stripes to splotches, speckles, and circles, and can change as the creature matures, with juveniles sometimes being brighter than adults. Like most lizards, goannas lay eggs, most lay eggs in a nest or burrow, but some species lay their eggs inside termite mounds. This offers protection and incubation, additionally, the termites may provide a meal for the young as they hatch, unlike some other species of lizards, goannas do not have the ability to regrow limbs or tails. The name goanna might have derived from iguana, as early European settlers likened goannas to the South American lizards, over time, the initial vowel sound was dropped. A similar explanation is used to link possum to the American opossum, complete list of genus Varanus For the most part, in common names, goanna and monitor are interchangeable. Most species are known to climb trees or outcrops, several primarily arboreal species are known, the lace monitor is probably the best-known among these, but is not the most common. The lace monitor is the second-largest of all goannas, reaching lengths of up to 2 m, other more common tree goannas, such as the Timor tree monitor and mournful tree monitor do not grow to quite such lengths, averaging a maximum of 61 cm, nose-to-tail. Other goannas are adapted to coastal environments, such as the mangrove goanna. Further still, the Mertens water monitor, found in lagoons, most other goannas are good swimmers, but tend not to voluntarily venture into the water. The diets of goannas vary greatly depending on the species and the habitat, prey can include all manner of small animals, insects, smaller lizards, snakes, mammals, birds, and eggs. Meals are often eaten whole, thus the size of their meals may depend on the size of the animals, many of the small species feed mostly on insects, with some being small lizard experts
6.
Indigenous Australians
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Indigenous Australians are the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia, descended from groups that existed in Australia and surrounding islands prior to European colonisation. In present-day Australia these groups are divided into local communities. At the time of initial European settlement, over 250 languages were spoken, it is estimated that 120 to 145 of these remain in use. Aboriginal people today mostly speak English, with Aboriginal phrases and words being added to create Australian Aboriginal English, a population collapse following European settlement, and a smallpox epidemic spreading three years after the arrival of Europeans may have caused a massive and early depopulation. Since 1995, the Australian Aboriginal Flag and the Torres Strait Islander Flag have been among the flags of Australia. The word aboriginal has been in the English language since at least the 16th century, to mean, first or earliest known and it comes from the Latin word aborigines, derived from ab and origo. The word was used in Australia to describe its indigenous peoples as early as 1789 and it soon became capitalised and employed as the common name to refer to all Indigenous Australians. Strictly speaking, Aborigine is the noun and Aboriginal the adjectival form, however, use of either Aborigine or Aboriginal to refer to individuals has acquired negative connotations in some sectors of the community, and it is generally regarded as insensitive and even offensive. The more acceptable and correct expression is Aboriginal Australians or Aboriginal people, the term Indigenous Australians, which also includes Torres Strait Islander peoples, has found increasing acceptance, particularly since the 1980s. The broad term Aboriginal Australians includes many groups that often identify under names from local Indigenous languages. Anindilyakwa on Groote Eylandt off Arnhem Land, Palawah in Tasmania and these larger groups may be further subdivided, for example, Anangu recognises localised subdivisions such as Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara, Ngaanyatjarra, Luritja and Antikirinya. It is estimated that prior to the arrival of British settlers, the Torres Strait Islanders possess a heritage and cultural history distinct from Aboriginal traditions. The eastern Torres Strait Islanders in particular are related to the Papuan peoples of New Guinea, accordingly, they are not generally included under the designation Aboriginal Australians. This has been another factor in the promotion of the inclusive term Indigenous Australians. Six percent of Indigenous Australians identify themselves fully as Torres Strait Islanders, a further 4% of Indigenous Australians identify themselves as having both Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal heritage. The Torres Strait Islands comprise over 100 islands which were annexed by Queensland in 1879, eddie Mabo was from Mer or Murray Island in the Torres Strait, which the famous Mabo decision of 1992 involved. The term blacks has been used to refer to Indigenous Australians since European settlement, while originally related to skin colour, the term is used today to indicate Aboriginal heritage or culture in general and refers to people of any skin pigmentation. In the 1970s, many Aboriginal activists, such as Gary Foley, proudly embraced the term black, the book included interviews with several members of the Aboriginal community including Robert Jabanungga reflecting on contemporary Aboriginal culture
7.
Shellfish
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Shellfish is a culinary and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater environments, some kinds are found in freshwater, in addition, a few species of land crabs are eaten, for example Cardisoma guanhumi in the Caribbean. Despite the name, shellfish are not a kind of fish, many varieties of shellfish are actually closely related to insects and arachnids, making up one of the main classes of the phylum Arthropoda. Cephalopods and bivalves are molluscs, as are snails and slugs, familiar marine molluscs used as a food source by humans include many species of clams, mussels, oysters, winkles, and scallops. Some crustaceans commonly eaten are shrimp, lobsters, crayfish, echinoderms are not as frequently harvested for food as molluscs and crustaceans, however, sea urchin roe is quite popular in many parts of the world. Most shellfish eat a diet composed primarily of phytoplankton and zooplankton, Shellfish are among the most common food allergens. The term shellfish is used broadly and specifically. In common parlance, as in having shellfish for dinner, it can refer to anything from clams and oysters to lobster, for regulatory purposes it is often narrowly defined as filter-feeding molluscs such as clams, mussels, and oyster to the exclusion of crustaceans and all else. Although the term is applied to marine species, edible freshwater invertebrates such as crayfish. Although their shells may differ, all shellfish are invertebrates, the word shellfish is both singular and plural, the rarely used shellfishes is sometimes employed to distinguish among various types of shellfish. Archaeological finds have shown that humans have been making use of shellfish as an item for hundreds of thousands of years. In the Japanese cuisine, chefs often use shellfish and their roe in different dishes, sushi features both raw and cooked shellfish. Sashimi primarily consists of fresh raw seafood, sliced into thin pieces. Both sushi and sashimi are served with soy sauce and wasabi paste, thinly sliced pickled ginger root, and a simple garnish such as shiso or finely shredded daikon radish, or both. Lobster in particular is a delicacy in the United States. Lobsters are eaten on much of the East Coast, the American lobster ranges from Newfoundland down to about the Carolinas, a typical meal involves boiling the lobster with some slight seasoning and then serving it with drawn butter, baked potato, and corn on the cob. Clamming is done both commercially and recreationally along the Northeast coastline of the US, various type of clams are incorporated into the cuisine of New England. The soft-shelled clam is eaten fried or steamed
8.
Davidsonia
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Davidsonia is a genus containing three rainforest tree species, that are commonly known as the Davidson or Davidsons plum. The fruits superficially resemble the European plum, but are not closely related, all species have an edible sour fruit with burgundy coloured flesh and are highly regarded as gourmet bushfood. Davidsonia jerseyana, Davidsons plum or Mullumbimby plum, is a small tree, generally 5 metres high. It is considered a species in the wild, but is widely cultivated for its pleasantly sour fruit that is used in jam, wine, ice-cream. Davidsonia johnsonii, smooth Davidsons plum, is small tree with a spreading canopy and it is also considered an endangered species in the wild, but is not widely cultivated as a result of infertile seeds. It is propagated vegetatively from cutting or root division, Davidsonia pruriens, Ooray or Queensland Davidsons plum, is a taller tree than the other two species reaching up to 12 metres high. It is also slender and has fruit which are produced in large clusters from the trunk or branches. Small-scale plantations in New South Wales and Queensland supply the demand, mainly from Davidsonia jerseyana, bruneteau, Jean-Paul, Tukka, Real Australian Food, ISBN 0-207-18966-8. Cherikoff, Vic, The Bushfood Handbook, ISBN 0-7316-6904-5, kersh, Jennice and Raymond, Ednas Table, ISBN 0-7336-0539-7. Low, Tim, Wild Food Plants of Australia, ISBN 0-207-14383-8 CSIRO plant profile Ooray name origin
9.
Araucaria bidwillii
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Araucaria bidwillii, the bunya pine, is a large evergreen coniferous tree in the plant family Araucariaceae. It is found naturally in south-east Queensland Australia and two disjunct populations in north eastern Queenslands World Heritage listed Wet Tropics. There are many old planted specimens in New South Wales, and around the Perth and they can grow up to 30–45 m. The bunya pine is the last surviving species of the Section Bunya of the genus Araucaria and this section was diverse and widespread during the Mesozoic with some species having cone morphology similar to A. bidwillii, which appeared during the Jurassic. Fossils of Section Bunya are found in South America and Europe, the scientific name honours the botanist John Carne Bidwill, who sent the first specimens to Sir William Hooker in 1843. Native in Queensland, historically trees were found in populations recorded as abundant and widespread in habitats of South East Queensland. Natural ecosystems having Bunya pines are found again approximately 1,000 km to the north, there the species natural populations are rare and restricted. Two outlying restricted populations are known in the Cannabullen Falls and Mt. Lewis areas, a. bidwillii has a limited distribution within Australia in part because of the drying out of Australia with loss of rainforest and poor seed dispersal. The remnant sites at the Bunya Mountains and Mount Lewis in Queensland have genetic diversity, the cones are large, soft-shelled and nutritious and fall intact to the ground beneath the tree before dehiscing. At the start of European occupation, A. bidwillii occurred in great abundance in southern Queensland, today, the species is usually encountered as very small groves or single trees in its former range, except on and near the Bunya Mountains, where it is still fairly prolific. A. bidwillii has unusual cryptogeal seed germination in which the seeds develop to form an underground tuber from which the shoot later emerges. This erratic germination has been one of the problems in silviculture of the species. Although there are no reported dispersal agents for the seeds of A. bidwillii, macropods and various species of rats are known as predators of the seeds, the bush rat was observed caching bunya seeds some distance uphill from parent trees, possibly allowing ridge-top germination. Brushtail possums were mentioned as carrying the seeds up trees, in a study in 2006, the short-eared possum was shown to disperse the seed of A. bidwillii. Natural populations of species have been reduced in extent and abundance through exploitation for its timber. Most populations are now protected in reserves and national parks. A recent problem in small plantations of A. bidwilli in Southeast Queensland is the introduction of red deer. Red deer, unlike possums and rodents, eat bunya cones while still intact, the bunya, bonye, bunyi or bunya-bunya in various Australian Aboriginal languages was colloquially named the Bunya Pine by Europeans
10.
Macadamia
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Macadamia is a genus of four species of trees indigenous to Australia and constituting part of the plant family Proteaceae. They are native to north eastern New South Wales and central, the tree is commercially important for its fruit, the macadamia nuts /ˌmækəˈdeɪmiə/. Other names include Queensland nut, bush nut, maroochi nut, bauple nut, in Australian Aboriginal languages, the fruit is known by names such as bauple, gyndl, jindilli, and boombera. Previously, more species with disjunct distributions were named as members of this genus Macadamia, genetics and morphological studies more recently published in 2008 show they have separated from the genus Macadamia, correlating less closely than thought from earlier morphological studies. Hildebrandii and the 1995 name M. erecta Macadamia is a species that grows 2–12 m tall. The leaves are arranged in whorls of three to six, lanceolate to obovate or elliptic in shape, 6–30 cm long and 3–13 cm broad, with an entire or spiny-serrated margin. The flowers are produced in a long, slender, simple raceme 5–30 cm long, the fruit is a very hard, woody, globose follicle with a pointed apex, containing one or two seeds. The German–Australian botanist Ferdinand von Mueller gave the genus the name Macadamia in 1857 in honor of the Scottish-Australian chemist, medical teacher,1828 Allan Cunningham was the first European to discover the macadamia plant. 1858 Walter Hill, Superintendent of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, observed a boy eating the kernel without ill effect, becoming the first non-indigenous person recorded to eat macadamia nuts. 1866 Tom Petrie plants macadamias at Yebri Creek from nuts obtained from Aboriginals at Buderim 1881 William H. Purvis introduced macadamia nuts to Hawaii as a windbreak for sugar cane. 1882 The first commercial orchard of macadamia was planted at Rous Mill,12 km from Lismore,1889 Joseph Maiden, Australian botanist, wrote, It is well worth extensive cultivation, for the nuts are always eagerly bought. 1910 The Hawaiian Agricultural Experiment Station encouraged planting of macadamias on Hawaiis Kona District,1916 Tom Petrie begins trial macadamia plantations in Maryborough district, combining with pecans to shelter the trees 1922 Ernst Van Tassel formed the Hawaiian Macadamia Nut Co in Hawai‘i. 1925 Tassel leased 75 acres on Round Top in Honolulu and begins a macadamia nut orchard,1931 Ernest Van Tassel established a macadamia processing factory on Puhukaina Street in Kakaako, nuts were sold as Vans macadamia nuts. 1937 W. W. Jones and J. H. Beaumont reported, in Science, 1940s Steve Angus, Murwillumbah, Australia, formed Macadamia Nuts Pty Ltd, doing small-scale nut processing. 1946 A large plantation was established in Hawaii, 2012-15 South Africa surpassed Australia as the largest producer of macadamias. Macadamia integrifolia Maiden & Betche Macadamia jansenii C. L. Gross & P. H. Weston Macadamia ternifolia F. Muell. Macadamias prefer fertile, well-drained soils, a rainfall of 1, 000–2,000 mm, the roots are shallow and trees can be blown down in storms, they are also susceptible to Phytophthora root disease. A Macadamia integrifolia / M. tetraphylla hybrid commercial variety is planted in Australia and New Zealand
11.
Cycas
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Cycas is the type genus and the only genus recognised in the family Cycadaceae. Cycas circinalis, an endemic to India was the first cycad species to be described and was the type of the generic name. The best-known Cycas species is Cycas revoluta, the Cycas is a very ancient genus of trees. The group achieved its maximum diversity in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, at the end of the Cretaceous, when the non-avian dinosaurs became extinct, so did most of the cycas in the Northern Hemisphere. Australia has 26 species, while the Indo-Chinese area has about 30, the northernmost species is found at 31°N in southern Japan. The southernmost is found at 26°S in southeast Queensland, due to the occurrence of large number of Cycas species in China and Australia, both the countries are considered as two centres of diversity of Cycas. The caudex is cylindrical, surrounded by the persistent petiole bases, most species form distinct branched or unbranched trunks but in some species the main trunk can be subterranean with the leaf crown appearing to arise directly from the ground. There are two types of leaves - foliage leaves and scaly leaves, the foliage leaves are pinnate and arranged spirally, with thick and hard keratinose. They are not permanent and fall off leaving back leaf-bases, the leaflets are articulated, have midrib but lack secondary veins. The scaly leaves are persistent, brown in colour and protective in function, megasporophylls are not gathered in cones. Often considered a fossil, the earliest fossils of the genus Cycas appear in the Cenozoic although Cycas-like fossils that may belong to Cycadaceae extend well into the Mesozoic. Cycas is not closely related to genera of cycads. The plant takes several years to grow, sexual reproduction takes place after 10 years of vegetative growth which occurs by bulbils arising at the base of the trunk. Cycas species are threatened worldwide and almost all the species are listed in IUCN Redlist, Cycas beddomei is the only species of the genus Cycas listed in Appendix I of CITES. Cycas rumphii and Cycas pectinata have the most widespread distribution, de Laubenfels, David J. Adema, F. A taxonomic revision of the genera Cycas and Epicycas Gen. Nov. Blumea, the Cycad Pages, Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. Http, //plantnet. rbgsyd. nsw. gov. au/PlantNet/cycad/index. html Virtual Cycad Encyclopedia edited by the Palm & Cycad Societies of Florida David, J. de Laubenfels, Cycas Taxonomy Hill, lindstrom, Anders J. Hill, Ken D. Singh, R & JS Khuraijam Cycads of India, http, //www. cycadsofindia. in/ Singh, R. Radha, P. Khuraijam, J. S
12.
Castanospermum
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Members of this genus accumulate iminosugars in their leaves. It is a evergreen tree growing to 40 metres tall. The leaves are 15 centimetres long and 6–7 centimetres broad, pinnate, the flowers are bicoloured red and yellow, 3–4 centimetres long, produced in racemes 6 centimetres long. The seeds are poisonous, but become edible when carefully prepared by roasting, cutting up into pieces, leaching with running water for several days. The timber, which somewhat resembles walnut, is soft, fine-grained, and takes a polish
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