XANTHORRHGA, 
Xanthorrhea. 
Investigations of Grass Trees and their Gum. 
By EWEN MACKINNON, B.A., B.Sc. 
Australia possesses many peculiar and remarkable plants and 
animals, but none are more characteristic than her so-called Grass 
Trees. These plants are a conspicuous feature of many parts from 
Darwin to Tasmania, and from Perth—where they are known as Black 
Boys—to Botany Bay. Botanically, they belong to the great family of 
Liliacew, and to the genus Xanthorrhea. The name “Grass Tree,” 
though very descriptive, is a misnomer, as they are not grasses and 
‘they are not trees, and again their “gum” is a true resin. Some of 
AUSTRALIAN’ GRASS TREES. 
sas hae by the Technical Education Branch, aa, 
et egn 
{ 
_the, smaller species, however, appear to ‘be without stem, Fana consist. of 
a tuft of leaves, which are long, narrow, and grass-like, springing almost 
from the ground. _ Hence the plant appears like.a coarse grass. The 
larger species, e. Lips X. arborea, has a stem or caudex 6. to 8 feet high, 
usually branched, with leaves 3.to 4 feet long; and the Western Aus- 
tralian species are even larger, with, stems up, to 15 feet, and. nearly 
always branched,, and. the plant, weighs up to 13. tons, _ They. are 
crowned. by the. bunch. of grass-like leaves, and their appearance is 
277 
