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Products > Lomandra hystrix 'Sunsprite'
 
Lomandra hystrix 'Sunsprite' - Sunsprite Mat Rush

San Marcos Growers has permanently closed as a business. This is an archived page preserved for informational use.  
Image of Lomandra hystrix 'Sunsprite'
[2nd Image]
Habit and Cultural Information
Category: Grass-like
Family: Asparagaceae (~Liliaceae)
Origin: Australia (Australasia)
Evergreen: Yes
Flower Color: Pale Yellow
Bloomtime: Spring/Summer
Parentage: (Lomandra hystrix selection)
Height: 2-3 feet
Width: 2-4 feet
Exposure: Sun or Shade
Summer Dry: Yes
Irrigation (H2O Info): Low Water Needs
Winter Hardiness: 10-15° F
Lomandra hystrix 'Sunsprite' (Sunsprite Mat Rush) – A clump-forming grass-like plant that grows to 3 feet tall by as wide with bright green leaves that have broad pale-yellow margins. In spring into summer this plant produces pale greenish-yellow branched inflorescence with spiny bracts and small fragrant male flowers. The clumps spread slowly by short (1 inch rhizomes) and it has a large fibrous root structure.

Plant in full sun to moderate shade. It is drought tolerant once established but can also tolerate regular irrigation. Lomandra hystrix 'Sunsprite' is a variegated sport of Lomandra hystrix 'Gary's Green' that occurred at San Marcos Growers in 2009. It took us 10 years to build up enough stock on this plant to able to introduce it into the nursery trade in 2009. 'Sunsprite' has shown very good shade tolerance and as with other Lomandra hystrix varieties has proven to be a very durable cultivar that should be cold tolerant down to around 15 F and has good drought tolerance in most any soil type.

The name Lomandra is 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 'hystrix' is Greek for "porcupine-like" or "prickly" in reference to the whorled clusters of bristly bracts around the flowers and at the branches of the inflorescence. 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. 

The information displayed on this page about Lomandra hystrix 'Sunsprite' is based on our research conducted about this plant from books in our nursery library as well as from information that is provided by reliable online resources. We also have included our own observations made about it as it grew in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers when we had them in our nursery field. We also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.

 
We closed for regular business at the end of 2025 in order for the property to be developed for affordable housing.
Our gates remain closed but we will open them by appointment to interested parties as we liquidate remaining supplies and equipment.
 
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