The species usually develops a rough trunk which may be branched and coloured black, the result of bushfires.

Old leaves hang down forming a distinctive skirt-like feature that partly covers the fire-blackened trunk.

[5] The species was first formally described by the botanist Robert Brown in 1810 as part of the work Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae.

[2] It is able to survive in poor soils, is intolerant to phosphorus and is highly susceptible to the soil-borne disease Phytophthora cinnamomi.

[3] Indigenous Australians soaked the flowering spikes in water to produce a sweet drink.

The flower spike exudes a resin which could be used as an adhesive in the manufacture of tools and the stem used for the lower portion of a spear.

[1] In 1915 there was considerable consternation over the realisation that German agents had been buying “immense quantities of grass tree gum for the past quarter of a century”, presumably for the purpose of manufacturing explosives.