native turmeric, Arnhem Land ginger

Native turmeric or Arnhem Land ginger. A native ginger with a pink flower that appears after dormancy followed by the production of large green leaves. Swollen rootlets are edible when cooked, although most people say it is too 'cheeky' (unpalatable) to eat. Grows in sandstone monsoon, flowers in wet season.Large pink flowers from the middle of the plant, large, smooth green shiny leaves. Occasionally eaten tubers but not favoured, found plentiful near Manmoyi at a bim site Miyene on 12 March 2022 (by Warddeken Land Management staff).

Kudjewk kakobun bakarlbakarl.

Curcuma australasica flowers in the wet season.

Karndayh, morruyhmorruyh kabinengun bakarlbakarl.

The female Antilopine kangaroo and the ring-tailed dragon eat Curcuma australasica.

Ngarringeybun ken njamed bakarlbakarl, yoh nani nawu kakukyime [draws in the sand]... nungan nadjinem nuye namekke kakarung kare yinan bu Dukaladjarranj kuwarddewardde kakarung.

We call this plant bakarlbakarl, yes, and it looks like this [draws in sand]... it is food for the black wallaroo, it digs it up and you can see it growing in the rock country there at Dukaladjarranj where the wallaroos in the rock country dig it up [source- † David Karlbuma]