Lomandra longifolia 'Katrinus Deluxe' PP19,262 (Katrinus Deluxe Matt Rush) - An evergreen perennial with narrow pine-green strap-shaped leaves. Growing much smaller than typical plants of the species, this cultivar reaches to 2 to 3 feet tall and spreads to about the same. It has medium green, leathery, strap-like leaves and small, tightly clustered cream-yellow flowers an inflorescence that sits at or just above the foliage.
Plant in full sun to moderate shade. This is a drought tolerant plant once established, particularly when grown in some shade along the coast, but can also tolerate regular irrigation so long as the soil drains freely and it tough enough to be used fairly close to the beach. Hardy to around 18° F. This is a tough and useful cultivar that is good for mass plantings in difficult situations. It is tolerant of a wide range of conditions and requires little to no maintenance once established.
This plant comes from Australian plant breeder Todd Layt who selected this plant in 1999 as a spontaneous seedling hybrid discovered in a block of Lomandra longifolia 'Katrinus' at a nursery in New South Wales, Australia. `Katrinus Deluxe' was selected for its dense plant growth habit, medium-tall plant height, narrow-medium leaf width, large inflorescence size and presence of male flowers only. It is somewhat similar to the popular cultivar 'LM300' that is marketed as Breeze in the US or Tanika in Australia, but 'Katrinus Deluxe' is noted to be faster growing with slightly wider leaves and better tolerant to moist soils and humidity compared to Breeze. We can speak to how tough this plant is because, after getting trial plants in April 2009, we put plants up into 1 gallon containers in our stock corral and literally forgot about them for 10 years, only discovering them growing hidden by an overgrown block of another larger plant. All of the original trial plants of 'Katrinus Deluxe' were not only alive, but they all looked great! That they could handle such abuse, tells us just how tough this plant really is!
Growing in the shade Lomandra longifolia 'Katrinus Deluxe' earned the UC Irrigations Trials Blue Ribbon Award for its high performance on low water at the UC Davis evaluations site. It did not fare as well however at the UC Irvine site where it was being irrigated using reclaimed water. The plant was introduced in the United States by Dig Plants and holds U.S. Plant Patent PP19,262 that was granted on September, 2008.
The name Lomandra comes from the Greek words 'loma' meaning "margin" and 'andros' meaning "male" and is in reference to a circular margin on the anthers. The specific epithet 'longifolia' means "long leaves". The genus Lomandra has long been placed with the Australian Grass Trees in the Xanthorrhoaceae or related Dasypogonaceae and more in its own family, the Lomandraceae, or combined with the Cordyline into the Laxmanniaceae, but current treatment is to put it in the subfamily Lomandroideae in the Asparagaceae.
This information about Lomandra longifolia 'Katrinus Deluxe' PP19,262 displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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