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 Longtails (Ptilotus polystachyus) are an erect, sometimes sprawling herb that can grow up to 2 metres high. Characterised by its flower spikes, that start off short and extend into a long narrow cylinder shape. The spikes are usually pale green-yellow in colour, straw-coloured (the perianth tips sometimes has a reddish-tinged) when fully developed, later turning brownish. There is also a red-brown form known locally as the Red Pussytail.
The plant is quite common on sand dunes, stony and red sandy soils.
Common name
Long Tails, bottle washers, Prince of Wales feather.
The Longtails can often be found growing on mass across an area.
Part of the Mulla Mullas group, being flowering plants that are also sometimes called Pussytails, due to their distinctive shaped flower heads.
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Plantae
- Clade: Tracheophytes
- Clade: Angiosperms
- Clade: Eudicots
- Order: Caryophyllales
- Family: Amaranthaceae
- Genus: Ptilotus
- Species: P. polystachyus
- Binomial name: Ptilotus polystachyus
Footnote & References
- Ptilotus polystachyus (Gaudich.) F.Muell. Prince of Wales Feather, FloraBase, the WEstern Australian Flora, https://florabase.dbca.wa.gov.au/browse/profile/2751 (accessed December 24, 2020).
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) Adenanthos cuneatus (Coastal Jug Flower) 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
