''Platysace maxwellii'', commonly known as native potato or karno, is a shrub that is endemic to

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. The

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...

names for the plant are karno and yook, with the latter name also referring to the closely related species ''

Platysace deflexa ''Platysace deflexa'', known by its Noongar name youlk or as Ravensthorpe radish, is a small shrub endemic to the south west of Western Australia. Description The perennial shrub grows to around 20cm to 50cm high, and spreads to around 1 metre i ...

'' which grows further south. The shrub has a slender, erst to straggling habit and typically grows to a height of . It blooms between October and April producing white flowers. Found on plains and hills with a scattered distribution from the

Mid West The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

through the Wheatbelt and into the south west of the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia where it grows in sandy, loamy, clay or lateritic soils. Initially described by the

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

Ferdinand von Mueller in 1892 as ''Trachymene maxwellii'' in the article ''Descriptions of new Australian plants, with occasional other annotations'' in the journal ''The Victorian Naturalist'' It was later reclassified into the ''Platysace'' genera in 1939 by C. Norman in the ''Journal of Botany, British and Foreign'' Aborigines used the plant as a food source since it produces large numbers of round

tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing ...

s about underground which are accessed using a

digging stick A digging stick, sometimes called a yam stick, is a wooden implement used primarily by subsistence-based cultures to dig out underground food such as roots and tubers, tilling the soil, or burrowing animals and anthills. It is a term used in ar ...

. The younger tubers closest to the surface are preferred and can be eaten raw or roasted over a fire.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17140862 maxwellii Flora of Western Australia Plants described in 1892 Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller