Xanthorrhoea

Plant Characteristics

Lifespan:	⌛	perennial
Origin:	✈	Australia

Cultivation

Scientific Names

Xanthorrhoeaceae >

Xanthorrhoea >

Read about Xanthorrhoea in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Xanthorrhoea (Greek, yellow flow, referring to the resin which exudes from the trunks). Liliaceae. Persistent perennials with a thick woody caudex, adapted to greenhouse culture and which have been tried out-of-doors in the extreme South. Caudex very short to arborescent: lvs. in a dense tuft at the top of caudex, long-linear, brittle, spreading or recurved: scape or peduncle terminal, often several feet long, terminating in a dense cylindrical spike: fls. greenish, numerous, sessile; perianth persistent, segms. 6, 3 outer glume-like, erect, concave or almost hood-shaped at the top, 3 inner much thinner, erect with the outer but more or less protruded beyond them; stamens 6; ovary sessile, 3-celled: caps. protruding from the perianth, ovoid or acuminate, 3-valved, hard, brown and shining.—About 14 species, Austral. The "grass trees," "grass gums," or "black boys," form a conspicuous feature of the Australian landscape. These picturesque desert plants are well worth trial in the warmer and more arid regions of the United States. The trunk varies from almost nothing in some species to 15 feet in the case of aged specimens of X. Preissii. The tall and palm-like trunks are thickly covered with the bases of the old dead leaves, which are cemented together by the black or yellow resinous gum that flows freely from the stems. In Australia the trunks are often charred and discolored by bush fires. The following species have been offered in southern Florida and southern California, but are practically unknown to cultivation in this country. All the species are long-lived perennials native to dry and rocky places. They are said to thrive in a compost of peat and loam and to be propagated by offsets. X. Preissii seems to be the most desirable species. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

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Cultivation

Plants can take 20 years to develop stems, and sometimes 100 years to bloom.^fl

Propagation

Plant seeds in a coarse, well-draining medium in either the spring or fall.^fl

Pests and diseases

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Species

• Xanthorrhoea acanthostachya
• Xanthorrhoea acaulis
• Xanthorrhoea arborea
• Xanthorrhoea arenaria
• Xanthorrhoea australis
• Xanthorrhoea bracteata
• Xanthorrhoea brevistyla
• Xanthorrhoea brunonis
• Xanthorrhoea caespitosa
• Xanthorrhoea concava
• Xanthorrhoea drummondii
• Xanthorrhoea fulva
• Xanthorrhoea glauca
• Xanthorrhoea gracilis
• Xanthorrhoea johnsonii
• Xanthorrhoea latifolia
• Xanthorrhoea macronema
• Xanthorrhoea malacophylla
• Xanthorrhoea media
• Xanthorrhoea minor
• Xanthorrhoea nana
• Xanthorrhoea platyphylla
• Xanthorrhoea preissii
• Xanthorrhoea pumilio
• Xanthorrhoea quadrangulata
• Xanthorrhoea reflexa
• Xanthorrhoea resinifera (also called Xanthorrhoea hastilis)
• Xanthorrhoea semiplana
• Xanthorrhoea thorntonii

Gallery

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  Xanthorrhoea malacophylla

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  Xanthorrhoea semiplana

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  Xanthorhoea latifolia

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  Xanthorrhoea quadrangulata

External links

• w:Xanthorrhoea. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
• Xanthorrhoea QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)