Western Australia FloraFlora Index Acacia glaucoptera (Flat Wattle) Anigozanthos (Kangaroo Paws) Banksia carlinoides Conostylis argentea Daviesia pachyphylla (Ouch Bush) Exocarpos sparteus Gompholobium cyaninum Kingia australis Lechenaultia formosa (Red Leschenaultia) Mesembryanthemum crystallinum Wurmbea tenella (Eight Nancy)
Kingia australis is a single species in the genus Kingia (family Dasypogonaceae), also commonly know as Kingia, Drumsticks and Bullanock (the Aboriginal common name for the plant). When not in flower, the plant looks similar to the grass trees (Xanthorrhoea sp), although the two genera are not related.

The mature Kingia australis can grow up to 8 metres in height. The plant has a thick pseudo-trunk, that consists of accumulated leaf-bases, with a cluster of long, slender leaves on top. They can have thick and sometimes branched trunks (especially if the growing tip is damaged) that are made up of the old leaf bases.
The flowers appear 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.

- Scientific Classification
- Kingdom: Plantae
- Phylum: Charophyta
- Class: Equisetopsida
- Subclass: Magnoliidae
- Superorder: Lilianae
- Order: Dasypogonales
- Family: Dasypogonaceae
- Genus: Kingia
- Species: Kingia australis
Footnote & References
- Photographs © Terry Dunham
- Kingia australis R.Br., Drumsticks, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/Kingia australis
- Kingia australis R.Br., Kingia, Western Australian Herbarium (1998–). Florabase—the Western Australian Flora. Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, https://florabase.dbca.wa.gov.au/browse/profile/1221
Western Australia FloraFlora Index Acacia glaucoptera (Flat Wattle) Anigozanthos (Kangaroo Paws) Banksia carlinoides Conostylis argentea Daviesia pachyphylla (Ouch Bush) Exocarpos sparteus Gompholobium cyaninum Kingia australis Lechenaultia formosa (Red Leschenaultia) Mesembryanthemum crystallinum Wurmbea tenella (Eight Nancy)
Western AustraliaWestern Australia Fauna Western Australia Flora The Batavia Coast and Midwest WA Bungle Bungles – Purnululu National Park Great Southern WA South West WA Stirling Range National Park