Re: Xanthorrhoea
- Subject: Re: Xanthorrhoea
- From: &* R* <t*@isp.net.au>
- Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 12:41:53 +1100
Very impressive, Judy, and probably a rare occurrence outside Australia, at
least for this South Australian species.
As for what you should do, why, nothing! The masses of tiny white
star-shaped flowers should soon open and attract lots of bees, which may
pollinate them, so it's possible you will get lots of seed capsules. Wait
till these start to split if you want to collect seed.
I can assure you that allowing the plant to flower and fruit has no
deleterious effect on it. Flower spikes are produced at intervals of several
years from any one crown. In our fire-prone vegetation around Sydney some
Xanthorrhoea species exhibit mass flowering in the 6-12 months following a
hot fire (they are are first and longest leaves to resprout in the weeks
following the fire), especially if good rain follows.
Xanthorrhoea plants are very long-lived but resent root disturbance. Raising
them from seed is the best way to get a well adapted plant. In the Sydney
Botanic Gardens I followed one plant of the arborescent X. glauca from seed
sown in the mid-60s to flowering in the mid-80s. The plant now has a trunk
almost a metre high. I also saw one of the smallest species, X. macronema,
grow from seed to flowering in a pot in only about 4 years.
When the flower spike has finished flowering and fruiting is the time to cut
it off. If you like gigantic dried floral arrangements they are just the
thing!
Tony Rodd
Sydney
----- Original Message -----
From: "dnjperson" <dnjperson@comcast.net>
To: "medit-plants" <medit-plants@ucdavis.edu>
Cc: "dnjperson" <dnjperson@comcast.net>
Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 2004 7:49 AM
Subject: Xanthorrhoea
> Oops, I forgot to attach the picture
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> Judy
