Ptilotus polystachyus, commonly known as long tails, Prince of Wales feather,[2]bottle-washers[3] or long pussy-tails,[4] is an erect annual or short-lived perennialherb in the Amaranthaceae family and is found in all mainland states of Australia, and in the Northern Territory. It has linear to narrowly elliptic or lance shaped leaves, and cylindrical spikes of greenish yellow or dull purplish-brown flowers.
Ptilotus polystachyus is an annual or short-lived perennial plant that typically grows to a height of up to 0.15–1m (5.9in– 3ft 3.4in) and has ribbed stems. The stems and leaves have a few branched hairs, but often become glabrous with age. The stem leaves are arranged alternately, linear to oblong or narrowly elliptic to lance-shaped, 45–200mm (1.8–7.9in) long and 7–35mm (0.28–1.38in) wide on a short petiole and with wavy edges. There are no leaves at the base of the plant. The flowers are pale green, greenish yellow to straw-coloured or dull purplish brown and borne in a cylindrical spike 30–120mm (1.2–4.7in) long and about 30mm (1.2in) in diameter. There are egg-shaped bracts3–4.5mm (0.12–0.18in) long and circular to broadly elliptic bracteoles about the same length, at the base of the flowers. The perianth is 13–16mm (0.51–0.63in) long, the tepals fairly densely covered with long, silky hairs on the outside but glabrous inside. There are three or four stamens, and the ovary is sessile with an eccentric style. Flowering occurs in most months, but mainly between May and November.[2][3][4][5][6]
Ptilotus polystachyus is endemic to Australia and is found in all mainland states and the Northern Territory. In Western Australia, it grows in red soils, sand and on sandstone on stony hills and plateaus[12], in the Northern Territory mostly on sandplains, dunefields, and intermittent watercourses,[4] and a wide variety of habitats in South Australia.[3] In New South Wales it is common in the drier areas of that state,[2] and is rare and confined to the far north-west of Victoria where it grows on low dunes and heavier soils of the Murray River floodplain.[6] The species is listed as of "least concern" in Queensland.[13]
↑von Mueller, Ferdinand (1868). Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae. Melbourne: Victorian Government Printer. p.230. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
↑George, Alex S.; Sharr, Francis A. (2023). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings - A Glossary (fifthed.). Kardinya: Four Gables Press. p.291. ISBN9780645629538.
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