Plants of
South Australia
Lomandra juncea
Asparagaceae
Desert 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: 8

Prior names

Xerotes juncea

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. Juncea, from Latin meaning rush-like, alluding to its appearance.

Distribution and status

Found on Eyre Peninsula, Mount Lofty Ranges, Murrayland and upper Southeast in South Australia, growing in mallee communities on sandy soils. Also found in Victoria. Native. Common in South Australia. Common in Victoria.
Herbarium regions: Eyre Peninsula, Murray, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Kangaroo Island, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Tussock perennial herb. Leaves to 50 cm long and 1.5 mm wide; terete, rigid; apex pungent. Inflorescences much shorter than leaves, the male with 3–7 spherical segments; the female with l or 2. Perianth 5 mm long; sepals white; petals yellowish. Flowering between August and October. Fruits are dark purple, almost globular capsule to 6 mm long; smooth. Seeds are yellow-brown, rounded wedge-shaped seed to 4 mm long and 3 mm wide. Seed embryo type is linear, underdeveloped.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between November and December. 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 is difficult 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
BGA 
MSB
3,200 (28 g)
3,200 (28 g)
4020-Nov-2006DJD690
Murray
1-Aug-2007100%-18°C
BGA2,900 (40.07 g)20-Nov-2013JRG80
Murray
1-Nov-2017100%-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.
Germination table:
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