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

Information displayed on this page about Lomandra hystrix 'Sunsprite' is based on our research conducted about this plant in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about it as it has grown in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will 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.

 
San Marcos Growers closed for regular business at the end of 2025 as the property is being developed for affordable housing.
While our gates remain closed, we will open them by appointment so we can liquidate remaining plants, supplies and equipment. The plants remaining in the field are listed on our Live Inventory Page.
 
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