About Planchonia careya (F.Muell.) R.Knuth
Planchonia careya is a tree species that belongs to the family Lecythidaceae. Its common names are cocky apple, cockatoo apple, and billygoat plum. This species should not be confused with Terminalia ferdinandiana, which shares some of these same common names. The 1889 publication The Useful Native Plants of Australia records that Indigenous Australians from the Mitchell River region called this plant "Ootcho", while Indigenous Australians from the Cloncurry River area called it "Go-onje" and "Gunthamarrah". Indigenous Australians consumed the ripe raw fruit of Planchonia careya; the fruit's taste is described as similar to quince. They pulverized the inner bark of this tree and added it to small bodies of water to act as a fish toxin, which made it easy to collect fish from the water surface. This practice is documented to have been used by Indigenous Australians at Cleveland Bay. The roots of this species were also used as a fish toxin by Indigenous Australians. They boiled the inner bark of Planchonia careya in water, and used the resulting liquid as an antiseptic wash for open cuts and sores. Heated leaves of this species were placed over mosquito and sandfly bites to relieve irritation, and the flowers were used as decorations by Indigenous Australians.
