Medicinal plants of New South Wales, Australia

In Australia, as is occurring in other parts of the world (Cox 2000; Cordell 2002), Indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants is being lost as elderly people possessing this knowledge pass away and communities are dislocated and Westernized (Horstman and Wightman 2001). It is essential that this knowledge be conserved for both its cultural and scientific value (Fabricant and Farnsworth 2001; Cordell 2002; Heinrich 2003). This review aims to consolidate information presented in existing literature of plants found in NSW that have been used as customary medicines by Australian Aboriginal people. It will cover distribution and habitat, documented customary use, biological activity of the plant extracts, and phytochemistry of secondary metabolites. An additional focus of this review is to address contemporary issues of working with Indigenous people on customary medicines and to introduce the work of our group, the Indigenous Bioresources Research Group (IBRG). The work of this group is aimed at the systematic documentation and preservation of customary medicinal plant knowledge of Indigenous people as an exemplar of best practice in working with custodians of customary knowledge.