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Parakeelya balonensis (synonym Calandrinia balonensis) is a species of succulent plant native to arid and semi-arid regions of Australia. Common names for the plant include parakeelya, broad-leaf parakeelya, broad-leaved parakeelya and Balonne parakeelya. Parakeelya derives from one of the many Aboriginal Australian names for the plant. The scientific name for the species comes from the Balonne River in Queensland, where the first specimen was found. Calandrinia, its former genus, is named for Jean Louis Calandrini, a 19th-century Genevan professor and botanical author, P. balonensis is marketed as a garden plant under the name Calandrinia ‘Mystique’.
A selection of this species, cv 'Mystique', has been registered and propagated as a clone. Like other Rumicastrum species, it is self-incompatible, and therefore does not set seed unless grown with other clones. It can be propagated by cuttings and the resulting plants flower prolifically, but they may be difficult to maintain for more than one year.
Wild-type plants also make attractive garden plants, and if several clones are grown together, they interpollinate and set abundant seed. The seed germinates only sparsely without some form of scarification of the seed coat, but ~80% germination has been reported when the coat of the tiny seed is nicked with a scalpel, using a dissecting microscope.
P. balonensis is widely distributed in the arid and semi-arid zones of New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, and Western Australia. It is most common on sandplains, sand dunes and rises and along sandy intermittent watercourses. It is less frequently found on gravelly hills of neutral or acidic rocks. The plant occurs in association with mulga and poplar box woodlands and in spinifex communities.
P. balonensis was an important food for Aboriginal people in Central Australia. Pitjantjatjara people steam the leaves, roots and stems before eating, and would eat the succulent leaves raw for their moisture content in an emergency. The small black seeds can be ground into a paste that is rich in protein (14.6 percent) and fat (17 percent), but gathering the seeds in useful quantities is labour-intensive.
Parakeelya · Rumicastrum calyptratum · Rumicastrum corrigioloides · Rumicastrum granuliferum
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Parakeelya balonensis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
