This image by John Tann from Sydney, NSW, has licence: CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/>
Gardening with Indigenous Plants
Indigenous Plant Use
Identification & Control of Common Weeds
| Botanical Name: | Lepidosperma laterale 1 synonym: Lepidosperma laterale var. typicum |
| Common Name: | Variable Sword Sedge |
| Sold As: | Tube ($2.00) |
| Plant Type(s): | Grass, Rush / Sedge, Grass Like / Strappy, Bird Attracting, Butterfly Attracting, Insect Attracting |
| Growing Conditions: | Partial Shade, Shade
Sandy, Moist |
| Size (HxW): | 30–100 cm (Flower stalks to 1 m) x 2–8 mm |
| Foliage: | Narrow, stiff dark green strap-like leaves and stems. Leaves have sharp edges with shiny reddish or dark greyish brown sheaths at base. |
| Flowers: | Loose clusters of red-brown flowers in a narrow, erect spray at the end of stems. Flowers from September to March. |
| General Comments: | A variable, hardy feature plant for gardens useful for rockeries and mass plantings. Variable small to tall clumping perennial sedge, spreading by very short underground stems. Flowering stems rigid, flat or slightly convex on one side with very sharp margins. Provides a habitat to frogs. Birds eat the seeds. Very adaptable feature plant which will also tolerate sun. Care needs to be taken with placement due to the sharp edges. |
 Further Information: |
This image by John Tann from Sydney, NSW, has licence: CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/>
This image by John Tann from Sydney, NSW, has licence: CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>
This image by John Tann from Sydney, NSW, has licence: CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/>
This image by John Tann from Sydney, NSW, has licence: CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/>