Silver Grasstrees

     Silver Grasstrees SW WA  (credit: SWP Media)        Regeneration after fire (credit: WA Wildflower Society)
 

Time for a 'plant of the week' to be recognized. The Silver Grasstree (Kingia australia), is a singular genus with one, single, surviving species. The silver-grey plant, a remnant from the flora of Gondwanaland, the super-continent that broke apart into India, Madagascar, South Africa, Antarctica, and Australia, exist only in the southwestern corner of Western Australia. Tiny pockets of this endemic species exist in scattered pockets of WA. Grasstrees are highly fire adapted to blazes that can burn through their groves. Their stems resprout and bloom with the first rains that dampen the soil in the burnt landscape. You can almost imagine a giant wombat of wallaby wandering through these ancient groves. WHB
 

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