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Asphodelaceae FAMILY

Xanthorrhoea australis

Xanthorrhoea australis

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
1/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Perennial
Growth—

Requires a well-drained light or medium soil and a very sunny position[1]. Succeeds in poor soils in the wild[2]. This species is not very frost-hardy in this country and normally requires greenhouse protection[3]. It tolerates temperatures down to at least -7°c in Australian gardens[PFAF], though this cannot be translated directly to British gardens due to our cooler summers and longer colder and wetter winters. It would certainly be worthwhile trying it outdoors in the mildest areas of the country[PFAF]. Other members of this genus should also have the same edible and non-edible uses[4, 5].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in a warm greenhouse. The seed usually germinates in about 5 weeks[6]. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle. Grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter and plant them out in late spring or early summer, giving them the protection of a frame or cloche until they are growing away happily. Protect the outdoor plants for at least their first winter. Division of offsets in late spring. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Xanthorrhoea+australis>

Pollinators

Bees

References

  1. [1]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  2. [2]Flora of Victoria. — Ewart. A. J. · University Press; Melbourne · 1930 ↩︎A flora of eastern Australia, it is rather short on information that is useful to the plant project.
  3. [3]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  4. [4]Wild Food in Australia. — Cribb. A. B. and J. W. · Fontana · 1976 · ISBN 0-00-634436-4 ↩︎A very good pocket guide.
  5. [5]Wild Food Plants of Australia. — Low. T. · Angus and Robertson. · 1989 · ISBN 0-207-14383-8 ↩︎Well presented, clear information and good photographs. An interesting read for the casual reader as well as the enthusiast
  6. [6]Australian Native Plants. — Wrigley. J. W. and Fagg. M. · Collins. (Australia) · 1988 · ISBN 0-7322-0021-0 ↩︎A lovely book, written in order to encourage Australian gardeners to grow their native plants. A little bit of information for the plant project.
  7. [7]Economic Botany. — Hill. A. F. · The Maple Press · 1952 · ISBN - ↩︎Not very comprehensive, but it is quite readable and goes into some detail about the plants it does cover.
  8. [8]Useful Wild Plants in Australia. — Cribb. A. B. and J. W. · William Collins Pty Ltd. Sidney · 1981 · ISBN 0-00-216441-8 ↩︎A very readable book.
  9. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎