Botanical name: Themeda triandra (syn. T. australis)
Flowering/fruiting season:
December - March (FOAB, 1997:83)
Location:
Throughout Australia (Burbidge & Gray, 1976:70)
In Canberra, see Aranda bushland & native grass plantation near St Mark's,
None of the original grassland communities in ACT which 'were more or less dominated by Themeda (Kangaroo Grass) remains in an undisturbed state.' (Burbidge & Gray, 1976:6)
Use:
Food, technology
Seeds could be ground and baked (Flood, 1980: 93) Themeda avanacea ground and made into cakes in western NSW & NT (Gott, 1995)
Fibre extracted from leaf & stem - used for making fishing net at Yelta, Murray River (Gott, 1995)
Notes:
According to Bluett (1954:4-5) reminiscing about an interview with an early settler many years before, the Aboriginal groups from the Canberra area would go to the Yass area to trade in Autumn, bringing back Kangaroo Grass seeds. [There is some doubt about the veracity of such recent accounts.]
Although Themeda is a prolific seeder, only small amounts ripen at the same time and then drop quickly (pers. comm. Susan Winder, ANBG 19/02/01). This combination of traits would make it difficult for people to collect sufficient seed at any one time to be useful resource.
Grows in summer, introduced grasses are winter-growing (Gott, 1995)
Language names:
mallak : 'Kangaroo Grass' Monaro (Flood, 1980:359)
