NATIVE: longifolia Grasses & Sedges Spiney Headed Mat Rush

Strandline Riparian / wetland HABITAT Hinddune Forest Headland Foredune gully

Other Basket Grass, Spiky Headed Mat Rush. names (Asparagus family) Family

Hardy perennial grass-like with strappy leaves. Grows as a symmetrical clump in moist and dry Habit environments.

A wide range of habitats, from coastal heathland to sand Habitat / dunes. Very hardy, frost and drought tolerant. threat

Leaves are glossy green, shiny, firm and flat. They can grow 40cm-1m long and 8-12mm wide. The leaf base is Leaves broad with yellow/brown margins and the tips of the leaves are prominently toothed.

Flower spike is covered in cream/yellow small flowers. Flowers are scented and dioecious (separate male & female), with the female flower often a little bit longer Flowers or larger than the male flower. Flowers Spring.

Mature fruit is brown/orange and open when ripe to reveal a cream-coloured seed that looks like wheat. Fruit/seed

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NATIVE: Grasses & Sedges Spiney Headed Mat Rush

WEED LOOK-A LIKES DISTINCTIVE FEATURES

Name Dietes grandiflora A clumping perennial grass-like plant. Leaves are shinier and slightly thinner with a pointed tip and no serration. Iris-like flowers are white, marked with yellow and Weed: purple. Dietes bicolour is similar but has a yellow flower. Wild Iris Flowers Spring – Summer. Seed pod is a green capsule, turning brown when ripe.

Dietes and Lomandra look similar but are easy to tell Native: apart with the leaf tip. Lomandra has a prominent tooth or serration that is common to most Lomandra species. Lomandra Dietes has a pointed tip. longifolia

Weed removal technique Hand- Seed head Cut and Scrape and Mattock / Biological Herbicide Crowning Skirting weeding removal paint paint Digging control use

Name Native to Australia but occurs further North from Taree. L. hystrix leaves are narrower and thinner than Weed: L. longifolia and have a different tip shape.

Green Mat- L. hystrix flowers in spring and summer and the flowers Rush, Creek of L.hystrix are more loosely and openly branched than Mat-Rush those of L. longifolia. L. hystrix does not seed as readily as L. longifolia and the seed spike is not as compact.

L longifolia has a wider and thicker leaf blade. The tip is Native: more defined with 2 or 3 teeth, with the central tooth Lomandra usually pronounced. Flower spike and seed head is much longifolia fuller and is shorter than the leaf blades.

Weed removal technique Hand- Seed head Cut and Scrape and Mattock / Biological Herbicide Crowning Skirting weeding removal paint paint Digging control use

Friends of Tomaree National Park Protecting nature through community action