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The best known common name for the Xanthorrhoea is blackboy.

This name refers to the purported similarity in appearance of the trunked species to an Anboriginal boy holding an upright spear. Some people now consider this name to be offensive, or at least belonging to the past, preferring instead grasstree.

Black Boy is a unique Australian plant.

It is commonly believed that the Xanthorrhoea grow at a rate of about an (2½ cm) per century.

Xanthorrhoea do grow very slowly, but this is a gross underestimate: after an initial establishment phase the average rate of growth varies for each species but can be as high as about 2½ cm per year.

Thus a five-metre tall member of one of the fastest growing Xanthorrhoea would be about 200 years old. A slow one may have a lifespan of 600 years.