Spiny-headed Mat Rush

Lomandra longifolia

Also known as Mat Rush, Basket Grass, Spiny Mat-rush, Spiny-head Mat-rush

At a glance

Family

Asparagaceae (subfamily Lomandroideae, sometimes placed in its own family, Lomandraceae)

Type

Evergreen, clumping perennial (rhizomatous, grass-like monocot)

Parts used

Leaves (fiber and craft), tender white leaf bases and flowers (bush food)

Size

Dense tussock 60 cm to 1.2 m tall, with strappy leaves reaching a meter or more

Bloom

Spring, small cream to golden flower spikes with a sweet, honeyed fragrance

Habitat

Eastern and southeastern Australia, in open forest, woodland understory, coastal dunes, and along riverbanks

Acquisition

Grow

This plant in HerbSense

Key benefits

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Tough, low-maintenance groundcover

Excellent erosion and slope control

Habitat for native wildlife

Traditional weaving fiber

Traditional uses

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Long before it was a landscaper's favorite, Lomandra longifolia was a working plant in the hands of Aboriginal Australians, whose communities have used its long, fibrous leaves for countless generations to weave dilly bags, mats, baskets, fishing nets, and eel traps. The leaves were split, softened, and sometimes dyed to make the fiber pliable enough for intricate coiled and twined work, a craft still practiced and taught today. The tender white base of the leaf was chewed for its faint sweetness, almost like a wild celery, and the nectar-rich flowers were sometimes sucked straight from the spike for a small burst of sweetness in the bush. It has always been valued more as a plant of practical survival and craft than as a medicine.

How to grow & use it

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The full apothecary for Spiny-headed Mat Rush

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✦Remedies & preparations
✦ Growing guide
✦Harvest & storage

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Pairs well with

✦Dianella (flax lily)
✦Kangaroo paw
✦Native grevillea

Substitutes

✦Dianella species (flax lily)
✦Carex species (native sedge)

Choose it when

“For the sunbaked slope where nothing else will hold, and the basket that needs to keep its shape for a hundred years.”

Did you know?

The genus name Lomandra comes from the Greek loma, meaning fringe, and andros, meaning male, a nod to the small fringed appendages on the male flowers. In the garden, this humble tussock does quiet ecological work too, since its leaves are the sole food source for the caterpillars of several native Australian skipper butterflies, which lay their eggs nowhere else.

Safety

Lomandra isn't toxic, but its stiff, sharp leaf tips can cause cuts, so gloves are sensible when harvesting. Only eat the tender leaf base or flowers after certain identification, since look-alike grasses and rushes exist.