Plants of
South Australia
Lomandra micrantha ssp. micrantha
Asparagaceae
Small-flower Mat-rush
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Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
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Oodnadatta
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Keith
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 6

Etymology

Lomandra, from the Greek 'loma', meaning edge, border or fringe and 'andros,' meaning a male, alluding to the circular margin of the anthers in some species. Micrantha from the Greek 'micros', meaning small and 'anthos', meaning a flower.

Distribution and status

Found in the southern part of South Australia, from Eyre Peninsula to the lower South-east, growing on sand and sandy clay. Also found in Western Australia and Victoria. Native. Common in South Australia. Common in the other States.
Herbarium regions: Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray, Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Kangaroo Island, Northern and Yorke, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Dioecious rhizomatous, perennial herb to 0.7 m high; clumps to 0.2 m wide. Leaves to 80 cm long and 2.5 mm wide; filiform or terete; hard and stiff, smooth, plano-convex or slightly channeled, with brown or black basal sheaths. Male flowers spreading or drooping. Female flowers similar but the panicle usually narrower and shorter. Flowers green-purple-brown. Flowering between May and December. Fruits are ovoid to globular capsule to 5 mm long; smooth. Seeds are yellow to brown, rounded wedge-shaped seed to 5 mm long and 3 mm wide. Seed embryo type is linear, underdeveloped.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between December and January. Collect mature fruits, turning brown with a hard seed inside, or when they are starting to split. Place the capsules in a tray and leave to dry for one to two weeks. Then rub the capsules gently by hand to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate the unwanted material. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. From three collections, the seed viability was high, at 100%. This species has morpho-physiological dormancy and can take several weeks to germinate.

Seeds stored:
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LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA1,700 (26.96 g)3017-Nov-2010DJD2031
South Eastern
1-Jan-2012100%-18°C
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.