Alice Springs Desert Park

ASDP Home | Fauna | Flora | Nature Theatre | Nocturnal House

A perennial tussock forming plant, the Kangaroo Grass (Themeda triandra), previously called Themeda australis, is widespread in Australia, as well as across the Pacific, Asia and Africa.

Named Kangaroo Grass by Ludwig Leichhardt (1842) during his expeditions north of Sydney because it was thought to be the favourite food of the kangaroos.

Kangaroo Grass (Themeda triandra), Alice Springs Desert Park
Kangaroo Grass (Themeda triandra)
Kangaroo Grass (Themeda triandra), Alice Springs Desert Park

The Aboriginal people used to gather the Kangaroo Grass, separating the seeds and grinding them with stones to produce flour, make porridge and damper.

Used as bush medicine, the Kangaroo Grass is chopped into small pieces and boiled in water to make a medicinal drink relieve sore throats and cure colds.

Kangaroo Grass (Themeda triandra), Alice Springs Desert Park
Kangaroo Grass (Themeda triandra), Alice Springs Desert Park

The Arrernte name is Aherre~aherre (pronounced a~URR~aurr~a).

Did you know that many over a quarter of Australia’s butterflies use native grasses as their host plants, and at least 13 species use ‘Kangaroo Grass’ as their host plants.

More info in our Flora section Grass and Grasses and Kangaroo Grass.

  • Scientific classification
  • Kingdom: Plantae
  • Clade: Tracheophytes
  • Clade: Angiosperms
  • Clade: Monocots
  • Clade: Commelinids
  • Order: Poales
  • Family: Poaceae
  • Subfamily: Panicoideae
  • Genus: Themeda
  • Species: T. triandra
  • Binomial name: Themeda triandra
  • Synonyms:
    Themeda australis

Footnote & References

  1. Themeda triandra (Kangaroo Grass), Growing Native Plants, Australian National Botanic Gardens, https://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/interns-2004/themeda-triandra.html
  2. Kangaroo Grass – Themeda triandra, Australian Butterfly Conservation, www.facebook.com/australianbutterflyconservation/photos/a.1114453988596542/2604914856217107/

ASDP Quick Link: Home | Fauna | Flora | Nature Theatre | Nocturnal House

ASDP FloraBatswing Coral Tree Blue Mallee Bush Banana Buttercup Pigweed Dead Finish Desert Grevillea Desert Oak Desert Raisin Field Lily Georges Indigo Golden Everlasting Honey Grevillea Kangaroo Grass Lamarchea sulcata Native Apricot Native Bluebell Native Cotton Bush Native Tomato Olearia ferresii Nicotiana megalosiphon subsp sessilifolia Parrot Pea Pink Everlasting Poached Egg Daisy Potato Vine Quandong Rattlepod Grevillea Red-bud Mallee Red Mulga Resurrection Fern Rough Halgania Sandover Lily Silkyheads Spearwood Bush Sturt’s Desert Pea Waddy-wood Walukara Weeping Spinifex White Spider Flower Wild Passionfruit Wildflower Display