The Shiny Grasstree is a trunkless perennial grass-tree, 30-50 cm tall, with below ground branches usually with several erect tufts of leaves. The leaves are 40-110 cm long and 1.5-3 mm wide. The flower head is usually less than a third of the length of the scape, and the scape is very thin. Flowering occurs January-February.
Shiny Grasstree |
Xanthorrhoea bracteata
Status: Endangered on the EPBC Act list
Government evidence of impact of climate change:
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Australian Government, Conservation Advice, Xanthorrhoea bracteata
Fire Too frequent potential Although grasstrees require fire to induce flowering; fire current subpopulations of the sand grasstree or shiny grasstree are potentially threatened by fires occurring too frequently for successive generations to mature and set seed before being destroyed in the succeeding fire.
Undertake research into the fire ecology of the sand grasstree and the shiny grasstree to determine the optimal fire regime (fire frequency and intensity) for the species.