''Xanthorrhoea preissii'', known as balga, is a widespread species of perennial

monocot Monocotyledons (), commonly referred to as monocots, (Lilianae ''sensu'' Chase & Reveal) are flowering plants whose seeds contain only one Embryo#Plant embryos, embryonic leaf, or cotyledon. A monocot taxon has been in use for several decades, but ...

Southwest Australia Southwest Australia is a biogeographic region in Western Australia. It includes the Mediterranean-climate area of southwestern Australia, which is home to a diverse and distinctive flora and fauna. The region is also known as the Southwest Au ...

Description

The form of the plant resembles a tree, with very long and bunched, grass-like, leaves that emerge from a central base. The trunk may grow over tall, and the often blackened appearance is evidence of its ability to withstand fire. The remains of the flammable leaves and the annual regrowth produce banding, allowing the age of the plant to be determined, and giving a record of previous fires in its habitat. The inflorescence appears on an upright spike, long, between June and December. The sessile flowers, creamy or white, appear more profusely when stimulated by bushfire.

Taxonomy

The name ''balga'' is derived from the

Nyungar language Noongar (), also Nyungar (), is an Australian Aboriginal language or dialect continuum, spoken by some members of the Noongar community and others. It is taught actively in Australia, including at schools, universities and through public broa ...

. This species and other members 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 ...

'' are colloquially called ''grasstrees'', and in the past also ''blackboys''. The appearance of the plant was seen by the early British settlers of the region as resembling an Aboriginal person holding a spear. However, today the term ''blackboy'' is recognised as inappropriate. A description published in 1920, ''Xanthorrhoea reflexa'' D.A.Herb., is cited as a taxonomic synonym for this species, as is the name ''Xanthorrhoea pecoris''

F.Muell. Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Victoria (state), Vic ...

The species description was first published by

Stephan Endlicher Stephan Friedrich Ladislaus Endlicher, also known as Endlicher István László (24 June 1804 – 28 March 1849), was an Austrian Empire, Austrian botanist, numismatist and Sinologist. He was a director of the Botanical Garden of Vienna. Biog ...

in the 1846 volume of ''

Plantae Preissianae ''Plantae preissianae sive enumeratio plantarum quas in australasia occidentali et meridionali-occidentali annis 1838-1841 collegit Ludovicus Preiss'', more commonly known as ''Plantae preissianae'', is a book written by Johann Georg Christian Le ...

''.

Lehm. Johann Georg Christian Lehmann (25 February 1792 – 12 February 1860) was a German botanist. Born at Haselau, near Uetersen, Holstein, Lehmann studied medicine in Copenhagen and Göttingen, obtained a doctorate in medicine in 1813 and a doc ...

, ''Plantae Preissianae'' 2:39 (1846)

Distribution

It is found throughout coastal plains, near watercourses, and inland forest regions, in a range extending from Geraldton to Albany and in the

Avon Wheatbelt The Avon Wheatbelt is a bioregion in Western Australia. It has an area of . It is considered part of the larger Southwest Australia savanna ecoregion. Geography The Avon Wheatbelt bioregion is mostly a gently undulating landscape with low rel ...

. It occurs on a wide variety of soil types and is sometimes associated with laterite and granite.

Ecology

The species is named as one of the dominant taxa in ''Corymbia calophylla'' – ''Xanthorrhoea preissii'' woodlands and shrublands of the Swan Coastal Plain, a critically endangered ecological community, once widespread and now restricted to a narrow range. Its occurrence is a characteristic of two other marri (''

Corymbia calophylla ''Corymbia calophylla'', commonly known as marri, is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It is a tree or Mallee (habit), mallee with rough bark on part or all of the trunk, ...

'') communities, but the marri/''Xanthorrhoea'' community is distinguished by the drier soils of the communities range along the eastern edge of the

Swan Coastal Plain The Swan Coastal Plain in Western Australia is the geographic feature which contains the Swan River as it travels west to the Indian Ocean. The coastal plain continues well beyond the boundaries of the Swan River and its tributaries, as a geol ...

Uses

The species had a high economic importance to the

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian people who live in the South West, Western Australia, south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton, Western Aus ...

people, who named it , utilising the gum it contains, the spike for fish spears, and the

bardi grub ''Abantiades atripalpis'', also known as bardee (bardy, bardi) grub, rain moth or waikerie, and previously known as ''Trictena atripalpis'', is a moth of the family Hepialidae. It is found in the whole southern half of Australia. Habitat The ...

as a source of food. Anecdotal information on the species refers to an association with fire in the culture of those people.

Gallery

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Xanthorrhoea preissii Asparagales of Australia preissii Angiosperms of Western Australia Endemic flora of Southwest Australia