Kingia
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 Kingia australis at Fernhook Falls (Western Australia)
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| Kingia australis R.Br |
Kingia is a genus of the plant family Dasypogonaceae, consisting of a single species Kingia australis. It has a thick pseudo-trunk consisting of accumulated leaf-bases, with a cluster of long, slender leaves on top. The trunk is usually unbranched, but can branch if the growing tip is damaged. Flowers occur in egg-shaped clusters on the ends of up to 100 long curved stems. Kingia grows extremely slowly, the trunk increasing in height by about 1½ centimetres per year. It can live for centuries, however, so can attain a substantial height. 400 year old plants with a height of six metres are not unusual.
Kingia australis is confined to the southern half of Western Australia. It was first collected at King George Sound by Robert Brown in 1801. The genus was named in honour of Philip Gidley King and Phillip Parker King. The species epithet australis is Latin for "southern".
When not flowering, Kingia australis bear a superficial similarity to species of the genus Xanthorrhoea, some of which bear the common name "blackboy" because of their purported similarity to an Aboriginal boy holding an upright spear. However, the flower stalks of Kingia australis are completely different from that of Xanthorrhoea species. Because of this, Kingia australis was for many years thought to be a female form of the blackboy and was commonly named black gin, "gin" being the Nyoongar word for "woman". This remains the most widely known common name, although in 2007, some consider the name inappropriate or at least belonging to the past. The genus name Kingia or the Aboriginal name bullanock are now preferred.
Kingia and Xanthorrhoea are biologically quite distinct and are not closely related. For example, Xanthorrhoea have a secondary thickening meristem in the trunk (Dracaenoid secondary thickening meristem), whereas Kingia lack this feature.
[edit] References
- Kingia australis. FloraBase. Department of Environment and Conservation, Government of Western Australia.
- Powell, Robert (1990). Leaf and Branch: Trees and Tall Shrubs of Perth. Department of Conservation and Land Management, Perth, Western Australia. ISBN 0-7309-3916-2..
