Artwork 49 Kangaroo Paws at Denmark River, Western Australia
Section 28
Bizarre and Showy Australians with Gondwanan Ancestry—Kangaroo Paws, Grass Trees, Flame Lilies, and Orchids
Denmark River, Western Australia, Western Australia
- 1. Anigozanthos manglesii (red and green kangaroo paw)
from the artist
In this work the state floral emblem of Western Australia—the colourful red and green kangaroo paw Anigozanthos manglesii—is featured growing near the Denmark River in the state’s South-West. The genus Anigozanthos is endemic to Western Australia, but united with other members of the family Haemodoraceae by the presence of special chemical compounds, the arylphenalenones. They are found in no other flowering plants, and give plants the orange-red to purple-red colouration in stems, roots, and rhizomes which are a feature of many species. The family has an unusual geographical distribution—from temperate to tropical Australia, New Guinea, Africa, northern South America, and the Atlantic coast of North America.
