Common name:
Grass Tree, Blackboy, Austral Grass Tree

Family name:
Xanthorrhoeaceae

Botanical name:
Xanthorrhoea australis

Flowering/fruiting season:
'Flowers late, shoots in autumn.' (Flood, 1980:94)

Location:
Grows on stony slopes in dry sclerophyll forest (Burbidge & Gray, 1976:108)

Use:

  • Food, technology
  • 'The flowering spike was soaked in water to produce a sweet drink, … soft, white leaf bases were eaten as well as the growing point of the stem. … some Xanthorrhoea species provided 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.' (Oates & Seeman, 1979:6).
  • Stems were used to make a base for a fire-drill to start a fire (see Zola & Gott, 1992:59)

Grass Tree

Notes:
'Resin was collected by the Wreck Bay Community and sent to commercial processors where it was made into lacquer for furniture of cabinet makers.' (Wreck Bay Community & Renwick, 2000:27)

Language names:

Horticulture :
'Needs well-drained, sunny position.' (Wrigley & Fagg, 1998:195)

Similar species:

Use code:
LEA

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