Grasstree Root

Description

A member of the Xanthorrhoea Sp. and a distant relative of the Aloe Vera, Grasstrees are well, neither a grass nor a tree, but they are Australian so like everything else on that continent, they are definitely trying to kill you. It grows in the costal regions as well as the forested areas of the continent. The flowering spike looks a whole lot like a spear and was used by the Aboriginal peoples as a lightweight spear handle with a hardwood shaft inserted into the end and the plants resin is used to bind everything together. The flowers of the grasstree can also be steeped in water to for a sweet tasting tea. The resin of the grasstree commonly used as an adhesive by the Aboriginal peoples, to help water proof leaky coolamons which are used as water containers and even didgeridoos. Grasstree roots have a light, floral scent owing to the plant’s use as incense. Its resins are used in varnishes, adhesives, and homeopathic medicines as well.

Grasstree roots after harvest.

The trunk of a grasstree is just tightly packed leaves that help insulate the plant from the fires that ravage the Australian grass lands. As such these dice are made from the root of the grass tree which is the part that survives those aforementioned fires. The grasstree has evolved to use those fires for reproduction by sending up its flowering spikes after they pass giving its seeds the best chance for spreading and taking root on the fire cleaned earth.