Scented Mat-rush
Male Flower stalk
Ellura
Mallee Fringe-lily
Seedling
 
                      
Scented Mat-rush (Lomandra effusa)Class: Plants (Plantae) - Land Plants (Charophyta) - Land Plants (Equisetopsida)
Order: Asparagus (Asparagales)
Family: Asparagus (Asparagaceae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Scented Mat-rush (Lomandra effusa)
This Photo:     Mass of Male Flowers
Other name: Scented Irongrass

Thank you Dr Kym Nicolson for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA), the Riverland and elsewhere
Funny how some specimens take your interest. We found a small group of these nearly a year ago and have been monitoring them ever since; waiting in anticipation for them to flower so we could identify them.
Strangely one is left alone yet the other 4 or 5 are constantly eaten right down.
The flowers have a lovely aroma, but watch your eyes if you smell them. The leaves are very stiff and sharp, nearly spines. Cream flowers with 3 petals + 3 sepals (looks like 6 petals)
Leaves are long, thin, ribbed all around and a half circle in cross section. Reed like. Heavily toothed (but not easily visible; a magnifying glass helps). They dry on the tip to a 2-pronged fork.
It's hard to imagine why anything would find them palatable. We surmise it can only be kangaroos as no other animal would be able to get to the top leaves without injuring itself; and we've seen kangaroos eating Westringia rigida, so it's not a stretch to see them enjoying these as well.

Copyright © 2014-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 29-May-2014
This species is classed as LC (Least Concern) in the Murray Mallee, SA, by DENR (Regional Species Status Assessments, July 2010)