According to information from the Australian National Botanic Gardens , the Aboriginal peoples of Australia used this plant as a food source. The seeds of these and other cycads are borne in a large cone and have an orange outer coat. They are poisonous, but the Aborigines knew how to treat them to remove the poison, and so take advantage of the large amount of food provided by a single plant. One of the ways was to cook the seed, break it up, and then soak it for up to three weeks in running water. In Western Australia, only the outer red part was eaten, after treatment by washing and burying.
Macrozamia are fire tolerant.
In this region they have to be as graziers periodically burn off the land to increase the growth of native grasses for cattle. Although they seem to contain oils and resins which make them burn rapidly and dramatically as shown here, the trunk and roots remain viable and the plant leafs out again in a matter of months. Aboriginal peoples also burned the land periodically. In part, they, too, wanted to increase the growth of native grasses so that kangaroos and other game would be available. There were no data collection exercises and no computers.