Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Caesia parviflora

Flower and seed case (var. parviflora). Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Ben Boyd National park near Eden

Flowering stem  (var. parviflora). Photographer Don Wood, Porters Gap Lookout, NW of Milton

Flowering plant (var. minor). Photographer  Russell Best, Grampians National Park, Vic

Flowering stem with flower and spent flower (var. vittata). Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Paul Hadobas, north of Braidwood

Common name

Pale grass-lily.

(Var. minor) Small Pale Grass-lily

Family

Hemerocallidaceae

Where found

Forest, woodland, heath, grassland, and damp places.

var. minor:  Kanangra Boyd National Park. Old records elsewhere.

var. parviflora:  Coast, ranges, and the eastern edge of the tablelands.

var. vittata:  Coast, ranges, and tablelands.

Notes

Perennial tufted herb to 0.75 m high with a branched rhizome. Hairless. Leaves basal, to 40 cm long, 1–8 mm wide, linear, with a more or less papery sheath at the base. Flowers with 6 'petals' each 3–8.5 mm long, greenish white to pink or blue, or mauve or purple. Flowers in clusters of 1–6.

Family Anthericaceae in PlantNET. Family Asphodelaceae in VICFLORA.

var. minor:  Plant usually much less than 0.2 m high. Leaves to about 2 mm wide. Flowers mainly white or greenish white, also blue or purple, 'petals' less than 5 mm long. Flowers in many-branched clusters, the branches widely divergent, horizontal or spreading and turning up at the tips.

Endangered NSW. Provisions of the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 No 63 relating to the protection of protected plants generally also apply to plants that are a threatened species.

Data deficient Vic.

NSW Threatened Species profile:  http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedSpeciesApp/profile.aspx?id=10120 (accessed 4 January, 2021)

var. parviflora:  Plant to 0.75 m high. Leaves to 5 mm wide. Flowers white to pale pink or blue, often with veins outlined in green or purple, 'petals' to 8.5 mm long. Stamen filaments greenish white throughout. Flower clusters usually 2- to several branched, rarely unbranched. Flowers mainly spring.

var. vittata:  Plant to 0.5 m high. Leaves mostly 5–8.5 mm wide. Flowers blue with darker veins, 'petals' to 8.5 mm long. Stamen filaments pale to dark blue often with transverse white bands. Flowers clusters few branched. Flowers mainly summer.

Data deficient Vic..

PlantNET and VICFLORA both note that the distinction between var. vittata and var. parviflora is unclear. Live material is needed for positive identification. 

PlantNET description of species and key to subspecies:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Caesia~parviflora  (accessed 4 January, 2021)