Bunurong Country

Grass trees taught me about fire

Right fire......wrong fire

There are many different grass trees on different country

Those in the Ngarkat mallee have survived repeated lightning strikes

They are coarse and tough

Their trunk buried in the sand.

The small grass tree from grassy woodlands also grows in the ground as an adaptation to grassland fire.

These grasstrees from Boniong on Bunurong land are survivors of a “controlled burn” which covered 10’s of hectares

The stunning mass flowering from the survivors is a stress response ....but gives the wrong impression

Many grasstrees die under this type of fire, and some of those that do survive will collapse years later from fire scars weakening the trunk

Hopefully this method of burning will become a thing of the past as Bunurong become more involved in land and fire management