confronting vegetation: Lomandra

I've been back from New Caledonia for a couple of weeks, but still have a concluding post on it yet to come.  Meanwhile, meet a New Caledonian Lomandra.

In Australia, Lomandra is a fairly non-descript grasslike plant -- straight bladelike leaves rising from a single point -- that would never call your attention when not in bloom.  But when a few of them ended up on New Caledonia, they discovered a seductive sideways curve.  It seems an obvious idea, but it's actually an unusual one.

Unlike most Australian Lomandra, this one has developed a small trunk, pushing its growth point a few centimeters above the ground.  This makes it possible for the leaves to spread out more horizontally, presumably to get more sun.  Aesthetically, it provides an intriguing mouse's-eye view of the plant as a tree: a wavy ceiling that glows with the sun's backlight.

Comments

[dale]

Wow! How cool.

[Teresa Gilman]

New Caledonia seems to be the place that makes plants do things they wouldn't normally do. Like when a person goes on vacation. ;-)

Interesting, Jarrett. I always learn something from your posts.

Teresa

[Denis Wilson]

Hi Jarrett
Some of our Aussie Lomandras have interesting twists. One which grows in the sandstone plateaux south of Sydney is known informally as the Centipede plant. It looks more like a fern at first glance, than a Lomandra. Flower shows it is a Lomandra.
Lomandra obliqua. http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Lomandra~obliqua
Cheers
Denis

[Miss Bliss]

Sigh...You noticed the back light...I'm so proud.

[Crafty Green Poet]

wow, I love the squiggles in the growth pattern...