Xanthorrhea

Or grass trees.

It was a beautiful, misty day in Blackheath, so I took myself off to find some tiny spring wildflowers.
I found none. I guess that it'll be another year til they emerge, after the fires.

What I did find, however, are these extraordinary grass trees.
Flowering is often stimulated by bushfires, and it certainly has been around thees parts.  They are everywhere.

Flowers are borne on a long stem called a scape.
They are extremely slow growing, so if you're looking to grow one, you'll need to be very patient, and very young.
While a five-metre-tall member of the fastest-growing Xanthorrhoea may be 200 years old, a member of a more slowly growing species of equal height may have aged to 600 years.

It's an iconic plant that epitomises the Australian bush because of its ability to live in poor nutrient soils and respond to fires.
They have developed a structural adaptation which helps them take advantage of soil fertilised with ash after fire, producing a flowering stalk in the aftermath.

If you're happy to spend a lot of money, you can pick one up at a nursery, but beware, as they generally don't last long owing to over watering.

I just remembered that I blipped them a few weeks after the fires.