Bunya Nut

Bunya Nuts are native to south-eastern Queensland especially the Bunya Mountains National Park.

The bunya nut tree is a huge tree which bears a crop only after the tree itself is around 100 years old, and then it crops once every 2 or 3 years only.

Football-sized green bunya pine cones are hidden in the tree canopy weighing  5-10 kilograms and containing between 30 and 100 nuts.

The cones will fall from the tree when mature so stay clear of the trees at that time.

You can split the cones by dropping them on concrete or a hard surface  however the membrane containing the husks will disintegrate of its own volition within a week to 10 days.

They store very well in the freezer and in fact freezing produces a much sweeter nut.

Opening the husk is the next step and can be quite tricky