Flora
Punu (trees)
- Wanari (mulga - Acacia aneura)
Probably Australia's most common tree. It covers huge semi-arid and arid areas. What look like leaves are actually flattened leaf-stems (called phyllodes). Fire usually kills mulga so it has developed a survival strategy dependant on fire. The seeds need heat to crack and germinate, which is why the trees occurring in each stand are generally the same age. Each part of the tree has an important traditional use. The heavy, hard wood is the main source of firewood. From the bigger branches and trunks miru (spearthrower), mukulpa (barbs), wata (spearhead), kali (boomerang) and wana (digging stick) are made. Both wiltja (shelter) and yuu (windbreak) are constructed from the leafy branches. The tree is also a valuable source of food, providing seeds, shelter for malu (red plains kangaroo), nyii-nyii (zebra finch) nests, tarulka (mulga apples) and insect galls, kurku (clear sweet lumps) and ngantja (mistletoe fruit).
- Kurkara (desert oak - Allocasuarina decaisneana)
Slow growing and grow in deep sand in large numbers. Juveniles look like Christmas trees and mature to an adult form spreading massive limbs when the roots meet the water table. It is the only member of its family in Central Australia and its cones are the biggest in its family. Fire burns its foliage but usually does not kill the tree.
- Kanturangu (desert poplar - Codonocarpus cotinifolius)
Fast growing short-lived tree, belonging to the same Australian family as the sandhill corkwood. It sometimes sets so much seed that its crown bends over with the weight. It often lines roadsides but can also grow in sand, on mulga flats and even on rocky hillsides. Anangu collect its leaves as a cooling cover for babies in hot weather. They also collect maku (witchetty grubs) from the roots.
- Muur-muurpa (centralian bloodwood - Corymbia opaca [Eucalyptus centralis])
One of the Parks most prominent eucalypts. Anangu use the bloodwood to make bowls, its red sap as a disinfectant and an inhalant for coughs and colds.
- Itara (river red gum - Eucalyptus camaldulensis)
Another prominent eucalypt found in the Park. Anangu collect a white flaky crust from river red gum leaves, roll it into balls and eat it like a lolly.
- Altarpa (blue mallee - Eucalyptus gamophylla) are the
This eucalypt is very common throughout the Park.
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