Hop Goodenia (Goodenia ovata)

With bright yellow flowers that are mainly seen in spring and summer but sometimes occur throughout the year, Hop Goodenia thrives in damp areas, especially those that have been cleared, disturbed or burnt, creating increased levels of light. An important source of food for caterpillars, it also provides food for small insect-eating birds and native mice, and shelter for lizards and snakes. Rosellas also eat its fruit. Aboriginal women gave a carefully prepared infusion of the sticky leaves of the Hop Goodenia to babies to help them sleep. Many diverse groups of Aboriginal peoples also use infusions of the leaves and twigs of Hop Goodenia as an anti-diabetic medicine. Flowers can be used to make yellow pigment.

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