Monday 23 February 2009

Bangalow Palm

AUSTRAL ENGLISHA DICTIONARY OF AUSTRALASIAN WORDS, PHRASES AND USAGESwith those Aboriginal-Australian and Maori words which havebecome incorporated in the language and the commoner scientificwords that have had their origin in Australasiaby Edward E. Morris M.A., Oxon.Professor of English, French and German Languages andLiteratures in the University of Melbourne.1898

Bangalow :- an ornamental feathery-leaved palm,
Ptychosperma elegans Blume, Palmeae

[Archontophoenix cunninghamiana]

1851. J. Henderson, `Excursions in New South Wales,' vol. ii. p.229
"The Bangalo, which is a palm. . . The germ, or roll of young leaves in the centre, and near the top, is eaten by the natives, and occasionally by white men, either raw or boiled. It is of a white colour, sweet and pleasant to the taste."

1884. W. R. Guilfoyle, `Australian Botany,' p. 23:
"The aborigines of New South Wales and Queensland, and occasionally the settlers, eat the young leaves of the cabbage and bangalo palms."

1886. H. C. Kendall, `Poems,' p. 193:
You see he was bred in a bangalow wood, And bangalow pith was the principal food His mother served out in her shanty."
1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 592:
"Bangalow. . . . The small stems sometimes go under the name of `Moreton Bay Canes.' It is a very ornamental, feathery-leaved palm."

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