54 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



Coutribution to the Natural History of the Kaugaroo-Island 

 Grass-tree {Xanthorrhoea Tateana, F. Muell.). By J. Gr. O. 

 TEi'PEit, F.L.S. 



[Eead 17th January, 1889.] 

 (Abstract.) 



The Grass-trees form the geuus Xantliorr'hcea and comprise a 

 number of speL-ies, all Australian, I have had the opportunity 

 of observing four, namely, A^ minor, R. Br., A', semiplana, F. 

 Muell,, X. qiiad/'anf/uliifa, F, Muell., and X Tateana, F, Muell,, 

 which difter widely iu the development of certain peculiar charac- 

 ters. The first two have no elongated stem and no woody "core"; 

 the third and fourth possess a tall trunk, the former sometimes 

 a small core, while the last develops this feature regularly and 

 strongly. This peculiarity of the Grass-trees a[)pears to have 

 escaped notice hitherto, or is but imperfectly known, which is 

 the reason for tendering the following remarks referring mainly 

 to the last-named species. 



Xanthorrhoea Tateana, F. Muell., locally known as " Yacka " 

 (Yucca?), occurs iu vast numbers in Kangaroo Island, from 

 Cape Willoughby to Ca])e Borda, and grows in very poor, gravelly 

 and sandy soil intermixed with ferruginous concretions. It raiiges 

 in heiglit of trunk from 6 to 14 feet, with a diameter of G to 18 

 inches, while its floral spike attains an additional elevation of 10 

 to 19 feet. In its home it is the most conspicuous plant and 

 lends a peculiarly weird aspect to the country it occupies, notably 

 the more elevated tracts of pre-Silurian age. 



The earliest published notice of its occurrence as a feature of 

 the island-scenery I have seen is an engraving in the ' Melbourne 

 Illustrated Post,' 1865, p. lOG ; but it is there faultily represented 

 witli curving and drooping leaves. In the ' Transactions of the 

 Royal Society of S. Australia' (vol. vi., 1883, pp. 116-171), Prof. 

 R, Tate, F,G.S,, F.L.IS., published liis " Botany of Kangaroo 

 Island," wherein he mentions the Grass-trees as occurring from 

 the Cygnet to the Stuusailboom Rivers and at Dudley Peninsula 

 (the eastern extremity), but under the name of AT. quaJranfjidnta. 

 When, in the following year, 1 i)assed over part of the grouiid, 

 and the mistake was noticed, I drew the attention of Baron Ferd. 

 von Mueller, K.C,M,G,, &c., to the fact, and sent him specimens, 

 from which this distinguished Australian botanist determined it 

 to be a distinct species, while 1 1'ead a short note on so^ie of the 

 ])eculiarities before the Society named on .Tuly 15, 1884 {op. cif. 

 vol, vii. p, 52), 



AVhile the vegetative process remains undisturbed by exterior 

 agencies, spontaneous flowering is rarely observed among the 

 species studied (most frequently, perhaps, with A'', quadrangulata); 

 but if the Grass-trees are subjected to the scorching of a busli- 

 fire in the summer months, which withers all the separated leaves 



