I think I saw this tree in a Dr Seuss book once upon a time. Unfortunately, all the source says about is that it is "typical habitat of the Western Clawless Upside-down Fly, Nothoastia clausa." That belongs in Dr Seuss, too.
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More articles by PZ Myers can be found on Freethoughtblogs at the new Pharyngula!
Botanical Wednesday: Is everything weird in Australia?
Category: Organisms
Posted on: May 2, 2012 9:11 PM, by PZ Myers
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Comments
Posted by: matthias.liffers
|
May 2, 2012 9:26 PM
This is a species of grass tree. They're quite common around the country.
They grow, on average, 1cm per year so this is probably a pretty old specimen. The spikes coming out the top are the flowers.
One of the weirdest things about grass trees is that their leaves are triangular or square in cross-section, depending on the species.
Posted by: albemuth.net
|
May 2, 2012 9:43 PM
Looks similar to Xanthorrhoea, for which the politically incorrect name is "Blackboy".
Posted by: Stanton
|
May 2, 2012 11:32 PM
I found a picture of the upside-down clawless fly here.
I wonder why they call it "upside down"
Posted by: Jerome
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May 3, 2012 12:25 AM
These grass trees are great. Unfortunately they are subject to theft from national parks for use in the landscape gardening market.
Posted by: Sven DiMilo
|
May 3, 2012 8:17 AM
Cool. I looked it up. I thought maybe it was a real tree-habit grass, but it's in a different order, that of yuccas and agaves.
Posted by: Mbee
|
May 3, 2012 9:55 AM
It's not that Australia is weird, it's that the rest of the world is!
Australia is full of some wonderful evidence for Evolution!