What is "kingia"

Kingia is a genus consisting of a single species, Kingia australis, and belongs to the plant family Dasypogonaceae,. It has a thick pseudo-trunk consisting of accumulated leaf-bases, with a cluster of long, slender leaves on top. The trunk is usually unbranched, but can branch if the growing tip is damaged. Flowers occur in egg-shaped clusters on the ends of up to 100 long curved stems. Kingia grows extremely slowly, the trunk increasing in height by about 1½ centimetres per year. It can live for centuries, however, so can attain a substantial height; 400-year-old plants with a height of six metres are not unusual.

When not flowering, Kingia australis bear a superficial similarity to species of the genus Xanthorrhoea, some of which bear the common name "blackboy" because of their purported similarity to an Aboriginal boy holding an upright spear. However, the flower stalks of Kingia australis are completely different from that of Xanthorrhoea species. Because of this, Kingia australis was for many years thought to be a female form of the blackboy and was commonly named black gin, a derogatory term for an Aboriginal woman*. This remains a widely known common name, but is considered inappropriate and belonging to the past. The genus name Kingia or the Aboriginal name bullanock are now preferred.

• The Noongar name for a woman is "yorga". "Gin" is a shortened form of "Aborigine". Both these latter English language words are now considered offensive and racist.

Kingia and Xanthorrhoea are biologically quite distinct and are not closely related. For example, Xanthorrhoea have a secondary thickening meristem in the trunk (Dracaenoid secondary thickening meristem), whereas Kingia lack this feature.