'WA's Christmas tree': what mungee, the world's largest mistletoe, can teach us about treading lightly

• Noongar Country of southwestern Australia is home to the world’s largest parasitic plant, a mighty mistletoe that blooms every December.
• And it holds great significance for Noongar people including the Merningar people of the south coast.
• This is also the case for Noongar people, whose traditional diet reflects the biological richness of their Country.

A sand-loving parasite

• But it’s also called mungee by Merningar and other southern Noongar groups.
• Being mostly Merningar, we call it mungee and use that term here.
• Read more:
  To address the ecological crisis, Aboriginal peoples must be restored as custodians of Country

A revered teacher offering divine guidance

• Mungee tells specific stories through where it lives, the plants it lives with, and when it flowers.
• For Merningar, mungee is a powerful medium that helps restless spirits move on to the afterlife, known to us as Kuuranup.
• Senior elder Lynette describes mungee as her teacher, providing guidance on how to exist in Merningar Boodja.

An example of living sustainably

• We saw parallels between patches of mungee and the communal kinship structures of Noongar society, where family is more important than individuals.
• Before European settlement, extended Noongar families lived in largely separate groups, interconnected with other family groups as part of a wider geopolitical system.
• Living a prosperous life within environmental boundaries is achieved by conservatively drawing upon a wide range of resources.

A tree to be celebrated

• The plant’s unique biology, ingenuity and charisma has long been recognised by Noongar peoples and their lore.
• Prolific annual flowers are a memorial to the many old people who have cared for their Boodja through millennia.
• A second project worked on by Alison Lullfitz and Steve Hopper is funded by an ARC Discovery Indigenous grant.