Balga tree

English: Grasstree (Xanthorrhoea preissii) in Kings Park, Perth, Australia. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Xanthorrhoea in Yanchep National Park, Western Australia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

To find out more about the Balga Tree CLICK HERE

They are one of the most interesting species of native plants in Western Australia – often found in gardens but much more at home in bushland.

I spotted these specimens near Parliament House in West Perth.

From Wikipedia… “The best known common name for the Xanthorrhoea is blackboy. This name refers to 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. 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,^[2] mostly likely Kaurna.”