''Xanthorrhoea australis'', the grass tree or austral grasstree, is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

plant. It is the most commonly seen species of the genus ''

Xanthorrhoea ''Xanthorrhoea'' () is a genus of about 30 species of Succulent plant, succulent flowering plants in the family Asphodelaceae. They are Endemism, endemic to Australia. Common names for the plants include grasstree, grass gum-tree (for resin-yie ...

''. Its trunk can grow up to several metres tall and is often branched. In certain Aboriginal languages, it is called ''bukkup'', ''baggup'' or ''kawee''.

Description

The main way to identify ''Xanthorrhoea'' is by looking at the cross-section of the leaves. In the case of ''X. australis'' the cross-section is a rough diamond shape, and the colour of the leaves is a bluish-green. The species usually develops a rough trunk which may be branched and coloured black, the result of

bushfires A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

. The trunk is able to grow up to over in height with a width of up to and may be branched. Three specimens at the Benvie Arboretum in

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are between in height. The bark is thick, rough and corky. The plant is very slow growing and trunks only start appearing after many years. The long, narrow leaves are crowded together at the tops of the trunks. ''X. australis'' takes several years to flower, and it does not always flower annually, but in the season after a bushfire it flowers prolifically. The flowers appear on a spear-like spike which can grow up to tall. The flowers, with 6 petals, usually cover – of the stem. The crown of leaves is almost spherical in shape, the point of each leaf perfectly marking the shape of the imagined sphere. The leaves crown the trunk in a crowded whorl of long, wiry leaves. They are arranged in a spiral, forming an erect tuft when young and spreading as they mature, with the oldest leaves dying and forming a hanging skirt around the trunk. The blue-green needle-like leaves are typically long and have a waxy coating. The leaves are softer and generally less rigid than other Xanthorrhoeas. Old leaves hang down forming a distinctive skirt-like feature that partly covers the fire-blackened trunk. ''X. australis'' flowers from July to December, but younger plants may flower in June. The common name ''grass tree'' is accurate as the trunks and branches of the tree varieties are literally made out of the leaf bases, not wood. Grass trees are often very long-lived with some estimated to be 350 to 450 years old.

Taxonomy

The species was first formally described by the

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

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in 1810 as part of the work ''Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae''. The genus name ''

'' is taken from the

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words ''xanthos'', meaning yellow, and ''rheo'', meaning to flow, a reference to the resin that is obtained from these plants. The species epithet ''australis'', meaning southern, refers to the distribution of the species.

Distribution

This species can be found in the states of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. It is regarded as the most widely distributed all of the ''Xanthorroea'' species. It is able to survive in poor soils, is intolerant to

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol P and atomic number 15. All elemental forms of phosphorus are highly Reactivity (chemistry), reactive and are therefore never found in nature. They can nevertheless be prepared ar ...

and is highly susceptible to the soil-borne disease ''

Phytophthora cinnamomi ''Phytophthora cinnamomi'', also known as cinnamon fungus, is a soil-borne water mould that produces an infection which causes a condition in plants variously called "dieback", "root rot", or (in certain '' Castanea'' species), "ink disease". O ...

''.

Uses

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

soaked the flowering spikes in water to produce a sweet drink. The soft, white leaf bases were eaten as well as the growing point of the stem. The flower spike exudes a resin which could be used as an adhesive in the manufacture of tools and the stem used for the lower portion of a spear. Stems were also used to make a base for a fire-drill to start a fire. The resin was also collected and sent to commercial processors where it was made into lacquer for furniture of cabinet makers. In 1915 there was considerable consternation over the realisation that German agents had been buying “immense quantities of grass tree gum for the past quarter of a century”, presumably for the purpose of manufacturing explosives. The explosive containing grass tree resin was reported as more explosive than dynamite in experiments at the time.

References

Australian Native Plants Society (Australia) (ANPSA)

External links