Stemona australiana

Stemona australiana is a species of plant native to tropical south-east Asia, including northern Australia and Papua New Guinea. It grows as a herb or climber up to two metres high. It was first published by George Bentham in 1878 under the name Roxburghia javanica var. australiana, indicating that it was considered a variety of the plant now known as Stemona javanica. In 1896 Charles Henry Wright transferred it into Stemona, a name for the genus which had priority over Roxburghia, at the same time promoting it to species rank as Stemona australiana.

Description

A slender climber or vine. It has fleshy tubers. It can be 15 m long. The leaves are large and heart shaped. The leaves are held out from the stems on slender leaf stalks. There are several veins which spread out from where the leaf joins the stalk. The flowers are small and produced singly or in pairs in the axils of leaves. They are dark brown or black with red patches. The fruit are small and oval capsules.

Edible Uses

The tubers and roots are eaten.

Distribution

A tropical plant. It grows in rainforest and open forest. In tropical Queensland it grows from sea level to 115 m altitude.

Where It Grows

Australia*, Pacific, Papua New Guinea, PNG,

Notes

There are 30 Stemona species. They grow in Asia.

Synonyms

References (8)

• Cribb, A.B. & J.W., 1976, Wild Food in Australia, Fontana. p 143
• Heywood, V.H., Brummitt, R.K., Culham, A., and Seberg, O., 2007, Flowering Plant Families of the World. Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew. p 402 (Family)
• Jackes, B.R., 2001, Plants of the Tropics. Rainforest to Heath. An Identification Guide. James Cook University. p 83
• Jones, D.L. & Gray, B., 1977, Australian Climbing Plants. Reed. p 61, 145
• Lim, T. K., 2015, Edible Medicinal and Non Medicinal Plants. Volume 9, Modified Stems, Roots, Bulbs. Springer p 79

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