PtilotusCotton Bush (Ptilotus obovatus) Hairy Mulla Mulla (Ptilotus helipteroides) Large Green Pussytail (Ptilotus macrocephalus) Longtail (Ptilotus polystachyus) Red Pussytail (Ptilotus polystachyus) Shrubby Fox-tail (Ptilotus whitei) Tall Mulla Mulla (Ptilotus exaltatus)

The genus Ptilotus has over 100 species, all but one are native to Australia. Ptilotus conicus is found in Malesia on the islands of Flores and Timor. The species Ptilotus spathulatus is found in Tasmania.

Cotton Bush (Ptilotus obovatus), Alice Springs Desert Park NT
Cotton Bush (Ptilotus obovatus), Alice Springs NT

Mainly found in the arid regions, with most of the species found in Western Australia, they are found in a range of habitats including tropical areas. Annuals and herbaceous perennials they have flowers in dense, brightly-coloured conical head form.

Longtails (Ptilotus polystachyus), Ilparpa Claypans, Alice Springs NT
Longtails (Ptilotus polystachyus), Ilparpa Claypans, Alice Springs NT

Common name
Whilst the term “mulla mulla” is used to describe many of the species, they are sometimes called “pussy tails’ because of the appearance of the flower spikes. Other names include pussy tails and lamb’s tail.

The different Aboriginal tribes have their own names in langugage for the different Ptilotus spp.1

Plants are an integral part of Aboriginal culture. As well as bush tucker and bush medicine, certain desert plants are regarded as sex totems. The pink flowered mulla-mullas (Ptilotus spp.) is representative of the male, whilst several plants with milky sap represent the female.2


  • Scientific classification
  • Kingdom: Plantae
  • Clade: Tracheophytes
  • Clade: Angiosperms
  • Clade: Eudicots
  • Order: Caryophyllales
  • Family: Amaranthaceae
  • Genus: Ptilotus

Footnote & References

  1. Peter Latz, Bushfires and Bushtucker Aboriginal Plant Use in Central Australia, IAD Press, Alice Springs, 2004, Part II: Plant List, p255
  2. Peter Latz, Bushfires and Bushtucker Aboriginal Plant Use in Central Australia, IAD Press, Alice Springs, 2004, Chapter Four: Plant Uses, p71
  3. For Love of the Mulla Mulla – Western Australian wildflower, Life Images by Jill, Monday 24 July 2017 https://lifeimagesbyjill.blogspot.com/2017/07/for-love-of-mulla-mulla-western.html
  4. A touch of light: Ptilotus rising, by Kieran Finnane, 7 July 2020, https://alicespringsnews.com.au/2020/07/07/a-touch-of-light-ptilotus-rising/
  5. A touch of light: Ptilotus rising, by Mike Gillam, 7 July 2020, Alice News, Issue 26 Vol 25, https://alicespringsnews.com.au/2020/07/07/a-touch-of-light-ptilotus-rising/
  6. Mulling over the mulla mullas: taxonomy and evolution of the Australian genus Ptilotus and relatives in the aervoid clade (Amaranthaceae), Author Timothy Andrew Hammer, https://api.research-repository.uwa.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/60271077/THESIS_DOCTOR_OF_PHILOSOPHY_HAMMER_Timothy_Andrew_2019.pdf

PtilotusCotton Bush (Ptilotus obovatus) Hairy Mulla Mulla (Ptilotus helipteroides) Large Green Pussytail (Ptilotus macrocephalus) Longtail (Ptilotus polystachyus) Red Pussytail (Ptilotus polystachyus) Shrubby Fox-tail (Ptilotus whitei) Tall Mulla Mulla (Ptilotus exaltatus)

FloraFlora in Australia Flora Index Acacia Anigozanthos (Kangaroo Paws) Annual Yellowtop Apium prostratum subsp. prostratum var filiforme Apple Bush (Pterocaulon sphacelatum) Australian Bluebell Australian Gossypium Banksia Batswing Coral Tree Billy Buttons Birdsville Indigo Blue Pincushion Bush Banana Callistemon Callitris drummondii (Drummond’s Cypress Pine) Calothamnus quadrifidus Cape Honeysuckle Cassia fistula (Golden Shower) Cattle Bush Common Heath Crotalaria Darwinia wittwerorum (Wittwer’s Mountain Bell) Daviesia oppositifolia (Rattle-pea) Desert Oaks Drumsticks Eremophila Eucalyptus Ficus Flannel Cudweed (Actinobole uliginosum) Georges Indigo Goatshead Burr (Sclerolaena bicornis) Golden Everlasting Goodenia Gossypium Grass and Grasses Grass Trees Grevillea Grey Germander Hakea Kapok Bush (Aerva javanica) Lambertia sp Leptospermum MacDonnell Ranges Cycad Maireana scleroptera Mexican Poppy Minnie Daisy Mistletoe Family Nardoo Native Apricot Nicotiana megalosiphon subspecies sessilifolia Nuytsia floribunda Orange Spade Flower Orchidaceae Parakeelyas (Calandrinia) Pebble Bush (Stylobasium spathulatum) Perennial Yellow Top Pink Everlasting Pink Rock Wort Poached Egg Daisy Portulaca Proteaceae Ptilotus Quandong Resurrection Fern Rosy Dock Ruby Saltbush Santalum Solanum Spike Centaury Spinifex Storkbill (Erodium cygnorum) Striped Mint Bush Sturt’s Desert Pea Sturt’s Desert Rose Tall Saltbush Tangled Leschenaultia Tar Vine Tribulus eichlerianus Upside-down Plant Urodon dasyphylla Variable Daisy Waratah (Telopea) Wertabona Daisy White Cedar (Melia azedarach) White Indigo White Paper Daisy Wild Passionfruit Wild Stock Woolly-Headed Burr Daisy Woolly Bush Yellow-keeled Swainsona