Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Lomandra fluviatilis
River Mat-rush
Asparagaceae
Creek beds on sandy soils. Coast and ranges north from Port Kembla. Occasionally elsewhere.
Tufted perennial herb. Flower stems flattened. Leaves basal, 25–75 cm long, 0.5–2.5 mm wide; concavo-convex or channelled, tips 2- or 3-toothed, the lateral teeth usually longest. Margins of the basal leaf sheaths lacerated, dark reddish brown. Male and female flowers on different plants. Flowers with 6 'petals'. Male flowers 3–3.5 mm long, female flowers about 4.5 mm long. Outer 'petals' shiny, dry, purplish or yellow; inner 'petals' dull, fleshy, yellow or cream. Male inflorescence a third to nearly as long as the leaves, branched; the axis of the inflorescence below the flowers usually 2–3 times as long as the inflorescence. Female inflorescence often unbranched, the axis of the inflorescence below the flowers longer in relation to the length of the inflorescence, otherwise similar to the male inflorescence. Bracts at the base of the individual flower clusters conspicuous, slightly, to much longer than, the flowers, reddish or golden brown on the margins. Flowering: spring.
Family Lomandraceae in PlantNET.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Lomandra~fluviatilis (accessed 13 April 2021)
This identification key and fact sheets are available as a free mobile application: