'Dilminyin', bark painting, native plant specie native plant species

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Type: Bark paintings
Date: 2014
Place: Yirrkala, East Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia
Materials: Bark, Ochre, Paint - non specific
Collection: Mulkun Wirrpanda collection
Accession number: 2016.0024.0058

Description

A botanical painting in natural pigments and ochres on eucalyptus stringy bark, depicting the native plant species Dilminyin [not 'GURRUMU' as written on the back of the bark]. The painting features two plants on the bark that is in a landscape orientation. The plants have a main stem or trunk with five or more branches growing from the main stem. The leaves on the branches are brown with white outlines. The background features crosshatching that is white, light brown and dark brown. On the reverse of the bark, the number '4324A' is handwritten in black ink, and there is a 'BUKU-LARRNGAY MULKA' adhesive label attached, including the artist's name and other details.

Dilminyin (Yolngu name) Ganophyllum falcatum (Latin name) 'scaly ash' (common name) This plant belongs to the Yirritja moiety Cultural information about this plant: Dilminyin is easy to spot in the rainforest where it grows because it is a bright scarlet when it's ripe, in contrast to its glossy green leaves. It is a really refreshing fruit to eat with a strong slightly acidic or bitter, and yet sweet, taste. The taste stays in your mouth for a long time after you have eaten it. If you haven't had it before or for a long while, or if you eat too many or if you are allergic, you may get a swollen or numb mouth, a rash or a cough after eating it. If you soak it in water for 30 minutes to an hour, it will taste even better. This is a Yirritja plant, which appears in the songs of the North Wind Lungurrma sung by Gumatj and Warramiri and is similar to wäwuru. The North Wind connects with the Makassan traders who used it to voyage here every year around November-December. (Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs, 2017) Botanical information about this plant: - a tall tree growing to 20 metres in height with a dense spreading crown - glossy dark green whole leaves, 15-30 centimetres in length, are divided into 5-10 alternate leaves, pale underneath - numerous small greenish white flowers on small multibranched panicles - orange red fruit in the form of small ovoid fleshy drupes, eaten raw - grows in coastal vine thickets, and in monsoon forest associated with lowland freshwater streams.

About the collection

The collection consists of nine larrakitj, or painted hollow logs, and 113 bark paintings painted between 2011 and 2014 by Mrs Wirrpanda, a senior female Yolngu artist at Yirrkala in north east Arnhem Land. These works are a product of Wirrpanda's interest in documenting the ecology of her country following her participation in a joint project with non-Indigeous artists, printmakers and academics, charting the country and yam supply at Blue Mud Bay. The works in this collection provide a unique visual record of Yolngu knowledge of plants and food-bearing and medicinal species. Wirrpanda depicts aspects of the plants' life cycle across numerous works, including the gestational period through to fruiting and the interconnections between the food source and the extensive freshwater flood plains and rivers, beaches, sandhills, salt flats and estuaries in her Yolngu country. Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Wayne and Vicki McGeoch

Read live from the Museum's Collection API (12/11/2026, 6:16:09 am). Record last updated by the Museum 2025-02-23. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.