Xanthorrhoea is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants endemic to Australia and a member of family Xanthorrhoeaceae, being the only member of subfamily Xanthorrhoeoideae.The Xanthorrhoeaceae are monocots, part of order Asparagales.A reference to its yellow resin, Xanthorrhoea (Grass Tree) literally means yellow flow in Ancient Greek. The best-known common name for the Xanthorrhoea is blackboy, based on the purported similarity in appearance of the trunked species to an Aboriginal boy holding an upright spear. Some people now consider this name to be offensive, or at least belonging to the past, preferring instead grasstree and ââ¬â for its resin-yielding species ââ¬â grass gum-tree. In the South West, the Noongar name balga is used for X. preissii. In South Australia, Xanthorrhoea is commonly known as yakka, also spelled yacca and yacka, a name probably from a South Australian Aboriginal language,[6] mostly likely Kaurna.
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