Bracken Fern

Pteridium esculent

Young stems are a life saver in the bush!  When the mosquitoes are out, you can rub the young stems sap on the bite and it will stop the itch.

The fronds can be eaten raw or roasted on the coals. 

If you pull the stems up out of the ground by pulling up the roots you will see bulbs attached.  These can be roasted on the coals and eaten too.  As they are a bit bigger than the fronds you can get a bigger feed out of them.

These same bulbs can be beaten into a paste which can be roasted or fried on a BBQ plate.

These are the bulbs, they're not too bad. The stems really work though, making any sting easier to bear.