Xanthorrhoea

Morphological Summary

Genus of arborescent monocotyledonous plants from Australia, known as grass trees or blackboys. They are extraordinarily long-lived plants — they can live over 600 years — that develop a very slowly growing woody trunk crowned by a dense rosette of stiff linear leaves resembling a sheaf of grass. The family Xanthorrhoeaceae is restricted to Australia, where around 30 species inhabit savannas, scrublands and open forests. They produce very conspicuous vertical cylindrical flower spikes. The base of the trunk accumulates yellow resin ("xanthorrhoea" = "yellow flow" in Greek) used industrially and as glue by Australian Aboriginal people.