Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Young Xanthorrhoeas in bloom

Lucky me! Usually when we see grass trees (Xanthorrhoea) we are speeding by, and cant stop for a shot, But on this day, I got to take my time with this nice specimen.




This last shot shows that the plant deploys its blossom in a sort of spiral, one row is open now, and indeed, there were a few bees working them despite it being a very cold and grey day. But you can also see a second spiral of flowers still in bud. Now thats one smart plant to spread its resources out over a period of time, as opposed to all at once. After all, what if you bloomed when there were no pollinators out and about? You'd be stuffed, Mate!

(I need my eyes examined again, I could swear this was a crisp shot when I took it. Harumph!)

These next shots I took in Perth, 2005. First, a mature specimen shows you why they are called 'grass tree'.



And here is a cross section of ones trunk, it had been blown off in a storm.



We had one of these once, in a pot. It lived very happily, untill we bought the house and sunk it into the garden. Was dead in a week! LOL

5 comments:

Bhavesh Chhatbar said...

This is a very different tree! I have never seen this in my life, maybe because I'm not at that place, and that the tree is native there :)

Unique one indeed!!

Brand New Blog on Fresh Quotes

Unknown said...

I enjoyed learning about a tree I've never seen or heard of before. Those spirals for pollination are fascinating. Glad you shared your pictures with us.

Barkfoot said...

That is a wacky plant, but I love it. Never seen one before. I wonder if they would cope with the English climate?

Young Werther said...

One of the photos reminds me of an emu (or an ostrich)!

BetteJo said...

Never seen or heard of that one before. I actually learn things here!