Black Sheoak (Allocasuarina littoralis)

Black Sheoak is native to Queensland, Tasmania, New South Wales and Victoria. Growing up to 8m high and flowering in spring, Sheoaks favour dry conditions and have either male flowers occurring in rusty-brown spikes or red female flowers that develop into cones. Its seeds are an important food source for many native birds including parrots and cockatoos. Sheoaks are used by diverse groups of Aboriginal peoples, with shoots and cones eaten and Sheoak wood highly favoured for fashioning boomerangs, shields, clubs and other cultural implements. In the Wyrie Swamp in South Australia, boomerangs made from various types of Sheoak have been dated at 10,000 years old.

Soure: Indigenous plant use; A booklet on the medicinal, nutritional and technological use of indigenous plants; By Zena Cumpston; Clean Air and Urban Landscapes (CAUL) Hub in Melbourne 2020