Lambertia Formosa - Uses and Cultural References

Uses and Cultural References

The common name "honey flower" is derived from the flowers which produce a clear nectar in large quantities. This was a source of nourishment for Aborigines and, following European colonisation, explorers, escaped convicts and children were recorded sucking the flowers. Explorer Ludwig Leichhardt wrote that "often when I've been tired and thirsty, I've bitten off the base of a tuft of Lambertia formosa flowers to suck the delightfully sweet honey out of them". Headaches and nausea have been reported from ingesting large quantities of the fluid, though it is not known to contain a toxic substance.

The species was the subject of an illustration by Sydney Parkinson, artist on HM Bark Endeavour's voyage to the Pacific from 1769 to 1771. A colour botanical engraving based on Parkinson's work is part of Banks' Florilegium. First Fleet midshipman and artist George Raper depicted the species in two works; an untitled watercolour study (c. 1788) and Bird Of Point Jackson (1789). Writer and illustrator George Collingridge incorporated the flower in several of his designs and unsuccessfully championed it as the floral emblem of Australia.

Hand-crafted figures have been made utilising the mature woody fruit for a head, together with pipe cleaners, wool and fabric scraps. Known as "mountain devils", these were sold as tourist souvenirs in the Blue Mountains.