Xanthorrhoea minor

(Small Grass Tree)

The grass tree (Xanthorrhoea australis) is an Australian landscape icon. It has a smaller and trunkless relative that also produces showy flower spikes, and makes an interesting garden plant.

Xanthorrhoea minor is grass-like, with linear leaves that grow to about a metre long. The leaves are loosely arching, and the plant can form a mound about a metre in width. It’s shown here entwined with Hardenbergia violacea (native wisteria) (photograph courtesy of Friends of Wolli Creek)

Although it is described as trunkless, Xanthorrhoea minor actually grows a multi-stemmed trunk below the surface (subterranean stem).

It’s slow growing but the reward is metre tall flower spikes during spring and summer. The showy cream flowers appear on the top 50 – 300mm of the spike and are very attractive to insects and nectar-feeding birds.

Xanthorrhoea minor is not only a great plant for foliage texture but the flowers are impressive. It can be a little fussy in that it doesn’t tolerate poor drainage, so it’s ideal in a rockery situation. It does, however, tolerate a range of light levels, from full sun to fairy heavy shade.

Its natural habitat is commonly mountainous and coastal regions in the southern half of Victoria. It’s also found in South Australia. It propagates readily from seed, but germination can take about 5 weeks.

Traditional Uses

The flowers, which produce considerable amounts of nectar, were added to water to make a sweet drink and the straight flower spikes were used to make spears.

Flower photograph courtesy of Iain Harrison, Swinburne TAFE.

Sources: Australian Native Plants, by John W. Wrigley and Murray Fagg, Reed New Holland publishers
Plants of Melbourne’s Outer East, by Helen Moss.
http://www.anglesea-online.com.au/wildLIFE/flora/grassTree/minor.htm

Click here to return to the list.

The information contained on this page is Copyright © SGA and intended for personal use only.
You may not use the information for any other purpose without the express written permission of SGA.