Herbs Weed profiles & Native alternatives
I’M A WEED
Onion Weed
Onion Weed
Asphodelus fistulosus
Erect, succulent, perennial, grass-like herb that produces a clump of hollow, cylindrical leaves up to 40 cm long that look like onion leaves but do not have an onion smell. Flowers 1.5 cm in diameter, have 6 white petals with a brownish central stripe carried in alternating clusters on a branched stem to 0.6 m high from August to November. Fruit is a globular wrinkled capsule, 0.4-0.6 cm in diameter in three segments, each containing one or two brown or black wrinkled, pitted seeds.
Onion Weed
Threat / Problem
• Invasive, particularly in calcareous soils, abundant along roadsides, from where it invades disturbed bushland.
Spread
• Reproduces from seed and spread of roots. It produces prolific quantities of seed that remains viable for many years. Seed is easily transported in soil, on vehicles, boots and machinery.
Control
• Does not compete well with native perennial species, and revegetation with desirable species can be used as part of a control program.
• hand pull or grub out plants in Spring and Summer, before flowering.
Onion Weed
GROW ME INSTEAD
Knobby club rush
Knobby Club Rush
Ficinia nodosa
Rhizomatous rush with rigid, erect, densely tufted, stems 0.5-1.5 m high. Leaves are reduced to their sheaths. Flowering heads of brown spikelets, 0.4-0.5 cm long, form in a dense cluster, 0.8-2 cm in diameter, with a short pointed bract appearing like a continuation of the stem. Very small rounded seeds are dark brown, shiny and flat.
Great foliage plant, striking in mass plantings. Propagation is from seed or by division of larger plants.
Knobby club rush
OR GROW ME
Black Anther Flax Lily
Black Anther Flax Lily
Dianella revoluta
Erect, hairless, long-lived, clump forming perennial herb with rigid stems to 1 m high, and growing from underground rhizomes. The leaves are leathery, strap-like, linear, spreading from the base to 1 m long by 0.4-2 cm wide. Distinctive deep blue to purple flowers from Spring to Summer that rise above the foliage.
Black Anther Flax Lily
The flowers are followed by persistent, blue to purple, globular fruits 0.4-1 cm in diameter, containing three or four seeds. Hardy and tolerating wide range of conditions, including drought and semi-shade. Propagation is from seed or rhizome division. Attractive form provides an interesting design element in the garden.
Black Anther Flax Lily
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