In this painting Carmen Jones Petyarre depicts the flowers of the Red Mallee (Eucalyptus pachyphylla). Ntyeny is the Alyawarr word for the Red Mallee, and ngkwarl is the word for a sweet or honey flower.
The ntyeny is a small tree growing between 4 and 6 metres tall with smooth pink bark. Growing with spinifex on sandplains, it has thick and leathery bright green leaves, and produces large red nuts and yellow flowers. These flowers are much sought after where they produce a relatively large amount of honey that can be sucked straight from the flower, or the flowers are steeped in water to make a sweet drink.
Women are depicted as U shape symbols collecting the flowers.
Artist: Carmen Jones Petyarr
Skin name: Petyarr (also spelled Petyarre)
Language group: Alyawarr
Country: Arawerr
Area: Utopia Region, Central Australia
Born: 1984