Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Lomandra longifolia

Flower head and leaves. Photographer Don Wood, near Nowra

Fruiting heads and leaves. Photographer Don Wood, Booderee National Park, Jervis Bay Territory

Plant. Photographer Richard Hartland, Longwarry, Vic

Common name

Spiny-headed mat-rush, Honey reed

Family

Asparagaceae

Where found

Forest, woodland, grassland, rocky areas, and a variety of other habitats. Widespread.

Notes

Tufted perennial herb to 1 m tall, forming dense tussocks. Bracts below the flower clusters sharp pointed. Flower stems flattened. Leaves basal, flat or slightly concavo-convex in cross section, occasionally rolled, 30–100 cm long, 2–10 mm wide, hairless, tips 2- or 3-toothed, central tooth within a pronounced sinus, or longer than the lateral teeth. Margins of the basal leaf sheaths intact or coarsely torn, brown, orange-brown or reddish brown, occasionally white. Male and female flowers on different plants. Flowers with 6 'petals', male flowers 3–4 mm long, female flowers about 4.5 mm long. Outer 'petals' shiny, papery, purplish or yellow; inner 'petals' dull, fleshy, yellow or cream. Male and female inflorescence similar, simple or branched; the axis of the inflorescence below the flowers distinct, much shorter to much longer than the inflorescence. Individual flower clusters in whorls. Bracts below the flower clusters sharp-pointed, usually conspicuous, to 20 mm long, longer to much longer than the flowers, rarely shorter than the flower clusters or apparently absent, whitish. Flowering: spring-summer.

Family Lomandraceae in PlantNET.

All native plants on unleased land in the ACT are protected.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Lomandra~longifolia (accessed 13 April 2021)