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Xanthorrhoea johnsonii

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Flowering plants from Plantsandlandscapes.com.au.

Author:  Alma Theodora Lee, 1966
Family:  XANTHORRHOEACEAE*
Origin:  Queensland, New South Wales; Australia
Soil:  Grit - Mix
Water:  Medium
Sun:  Maximum
Thickness:  25 Centimetres
Height:  4 Meters
Flower:  Yellowish
Propagate:  Seeds*
Names:  Grass Tree, Northern Grasstree, Blackboy
Synonyms:  -

This member of the Xanthorrhoeaceae family was described by Alma Theodora Lee in 1966. It is found in Queensland and New South Wales, growing in sand or other well drained soil with some water and some to lots of sun. The stem will grow up to 25 centimetres or more, and in 4-600 years reach four meters. The flowers are yellowish, and the plant can only be reproduced by seeds.

The genera name from the Greek xanthos; 'yellow' and rheo; 'to flow', referring to the yellow gum that can be extracted. The species name after Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson, 1925-1997, an Australian taxonomic botanist.

* In the wild, the seeds will germinate after a bushfire. It is not the heat, but the smoke which triggers them. More exact: The butenolide - 3-methyl-2H-furo[2,3-C]pyran-2-one - in smoke induces germination.
This effect can be made by either smoking the seeds or soak them in water with smoked paper which can be bought or simply smoke some paper or cloth your self.

*)Accordantly to the latest taxonomic system; APG IV 2016, Xanthorrhoeaceae is now part of the Asphodelaceae.