HEIGHT up to 6 ft (2 m)TYPE Evergreen
OCCURRENCE Australia (New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania)
Grass-trees are unique to the Australian bush. They are very slow-growing and can survive for many hundreds of years. Some plants may branch and have two or more heads, unlike the black gin, which has only one. The tree flowers in spring, blooming prolifically after a bush-fire. Grass-trees were a staple plant for the Aboriginals, providing food, drink, fiber, and materials for making implements and weapons. They are now valued as garden specimens. BARK Thick, corky, covered with leaf bases. LEAF Long, narrow, green, crowded at the top of the trunk. FLOWER Very small, clustered together, in tall, straight, cylindrical spikes that arise from the leaves, with six white or cream petals, and white stamens; they contain copious amounts of nectar. FRUIT Capsule, with hard, black seeds.
