Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Xanthorrhoea australis
Common name
Austral Grass-tree, Kangaroo Tails
Family
Xanthorrhoeaceae
Where found
Dry forest, heath, and rocky slopes. Widespread, mainly on the ranges.
Notes
Tree-like perennial herb, stem often branched; crowns one to many. Trunks with a pithy core surrounded by the flattened glossy bases of old leaves. Trunk to 3 m high, scape below the flower spike to 0.5 m long, 18–40 mm in diameter, spike 1.1-2.5 m high, 50–80 mm in diameter. Leaves clustered at the top of the trunk(s), forming an erect tuft when young, becoming spreading. Leaves mostly 4-sided, diamond-shaped in cross section, 1.2–3 mm wide, 1–2.2 mm thick, blue-grey, glaucous. It produces a red-brown resinous exudate at the bases of the leaves. Individual flowers white to cream, small, with 6 'petals' in two rows, outer 'petals' papery or more or less membranous, inner 'petals' membranous. Bracts surrounding the flowers very prominent, elongated, gradually tapering to a fine point, and hairless. Bracts between the flowers tapering to a long fine point, and hairless. Flowers Winter to Summer.
Family Asphodelaceae in Vic.
Protected NSW.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Xanthorrhoea~australis (accessed 12 February, 2021)
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