If it had presented itself to us a few days earlier, the “unanswerable question” would have qualified for the “quirky moments” series.
You are looking at an atypical, young flower spike on a so-called “grass tree” – a member of the genus Xanthorrhoea.
Its 30 species are all endemic to Australia.
A “disproportionately” large number of them are peculiar to Western Australia’s southwest.
We met the “curious”, deformed Xanthorrhoea spike at 11.49 am on 30 August 2023, while walking in Perth’s Kings Park. (photo copyright Doug Spencer)
I am unsure whether or not – or to what extent – this spike will ever attain a “correct”, vertical alignment.
Click here to see and learn more about Xanthorrhoea.
Some species’ mature, flowering, flower spikes tower more than a metre above even a very tall human’s head: in bloom, a single spike has a great many individual flowers.
The most productive Xanthorrhoea spike can produce 10 thousand seeds!
The “spent” spike, below, was only a footstep or two away from the much younger, deformed one; probably, the two are members of the same species…perhaps, “parent” and “progeny”.
