''Microseris walteri'' is an Australian perennial herb with yellow flowers and edible tuberous roots, and one of three plants known as murnong or yam daisy along with ''

Microseris scapigera ''Microseris scapigera'' is a yellow-flowered daisy, a perennial herb, found in New Zealand and Australia. It is the only New Zealand species of ''Microseris'', and one of three Australian species along with ''Microseris lanceolata'' and ''Micro ...

'' and ''

Microseris lanceolata ''Microseris lanceolata'' is an Australian alpine herb with yellow flowers and one of three plants known as murnong or yam daisy along with ''Microseris scapigera'' and ''Microseris walteri.'' The plant is found in southern parts of Australia, ...

''. The plant is found in southern parts of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, including

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

NSW ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, ACT, SA, WA and

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. In Victoria, the plant is widespread and occupying a wide range of habitats, particularly dry open forest.

Botanical naming

For more than 30 years Murnong was named as ''Microseris'' sp. or ''Microseris lanceolata'' or ''Microseris scapigera''.

Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria are botanical garden, botanic gardens across two sites–Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, Melbourne and Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne, Cranbourne. Melbourne Gardens was founded in 1846 when land was rese ...

botanist Neville Walsh clarified the botanical name of ''Microseris walteri'' in 2016 and defined the differences in the three species in the table below.

Biological descriptions

''Microseris walteri'' has the form of a tufted rosette of toothed lanceolate leaves. The flower appears in Spring, which is a yellow head of florets, similar to flatweed (''

Hypochaeris radicata ''Hypochaeris radicata'' (sometimes spelled ''Hypochoeris radicata'') – also known as catsear, flatweed, cat's-ear, hairy cat's ear, or false dandelion – is a perennial, low-lying edible herb often found in lawns. The plant is native to Eu ...

'') or dandelion (''

Taraxacum ''Taraxacum'' () is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, which consists of species commonly known as dandelions. The scientific and hobby study of the genus is known as taraxacology. The genus is native to Eurasia and Nor ...

''). The flower stalk is pendulous before flowering, becoming erect for flowering to attract pollinators and again with the ripening of the seed head. The seed heads ripen to a cluster of fluffy, tan achenes, each having a crown of fine extensions called a pappus. The seeds are dispersed by wind. The plant usually grows a single tuber each season. There is a wide variation in shape and size of tubers between plants from different habitats in the Victoria. Those from northwest Victoria have probably the longest tubers. A rare form from the volcanic plain (Woorndoo area) has a stocky, sometimes few-branched, but apparently perennial tap-root.

Gallery

File:Mwalteri7.jpg, Microseris walteri flower File:Mwalteri8.jpg, Flower measurement File:Mwalteri5.jpg, Seed clock File:Mwalteri6.jpg, Roots File:Microserisseeds.jpg, Seed comparison, from left to right: ''Microseris scapigera'', ''Microseris walteri'' and ''Microseris lanceolata''

Cultivation and uses

The edible tuberous roots of murnong plants were once a vitally important source of food for the

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

. In the south-eastern parts of Australia, Indigenous women would dig for roots with a digging stick, also known as a yam stick, and they would carry the roots in a

dillybag A dillybag or dilly bag is a traditional Australian Aboriginal bag generally woven from plant fibres. Dillybags are mainly designed and used by women to gather and transport food, and are most commonly found in the northern parts of Australia. ' ...

. The practice of digging for tubers and leaving part of the tuber, meant the soil was

tilled Tillage is the agricultural preparation of soil by mechanical agitation of various types, such as digging, stirring, and overturning. Examples of human-powered tilling methods using hand tools include shoveling, picking, mattock work, hoein ...

and caused more plants to grow. Murnong was cooked by placing a dillybag of tubers onto an

earth oven An earth oven, ground oven or cooking pit is one of the simplest and most ancient cooking structures. At its most basic, an earth oven is a pit in the ground used to trap heat and bake, smoke, or steam food. Earth ovens have been used in many pl ...

for roasting. The taste of the cooked tuber is described as 'sweet with a flavour of coconut'. The introduction of cattle, sheep and goats by immigrating early–colonialist Europeans led to the near extinction of murnong, with calamitous results for first Australians' communities who depended upon murnong for a large part of their food.

References

External links

* Photographs of herbarium type specimens: ** "Victoria, Sandringham, Sept. 1900, C.Walter s.n.
LY 0009479
(type for ''M. walteri'' Gand.) ** "W. Australia, J.Drummond 5th Coll., 366
K000796797
West Austr. Maxwel
MEL 64832MEL 64833
(isotypes) (for ''Microseris forsteri'' var. ''subplumosa'' Benth.) {{Taxonbar, from=Q51050872 walteri Asterales of Australia Flora of Victoria (Australia) Herbs Root vegetables Plants described in 1840