Shade near the salt lake
A whiteness all shimmering
And shade in the Pilbara
By red rock simmering
A weeping green willow
Where few people go
And desert winds blow
Where the creeks rarely flow
I rest in the shade
like the red kangaroos
Cool under leafiness
While the outside world stews
Pittosporum angustifolium is known by many names including Native Apricot, Native Willow and Gumby gumby. It’s reputation as an effective herbal medicine increases daily and there are many on-line suppliers of dried leaf marketed as medicinal herbal tea. There has been surprisingly little focus on the brilliant red seeds which were interestingly the main focus of traditional use. This is probably because the seed is hard to collect in commercial quantities.
Gumby gumby is rich in saponin which is also the active ingredient in the ginseng Chinese medicinal plant. Saponin is soluble in both water and oil and can be thought of as a natural detergent. If you shake the leaf, seeds or pods in water you get a stable foam. Gumby gumby therefore has great application in soap making.