Spiny-headed Mat-rush (Lomandra longifolia)

Spiny-headed Mat-rush is a large tussocky plant that is common throughout south-eastern Australia and is found across most of Victoria. The Wurundjeri people particularly favour this plant for weaving cultural items such as necklaces, headbands, girdles, baskets, mats and bags for carrying foods, as well as for making technologies such as eel traps and hunting nets. Its seeds, high in protein, can be collected and pounded into a bread mix, with the core of the plant and the base of the leaves eaten as a vegetable. Aboriginal peoples use the roots to treat bites and stings. Lomandra is a food plant for the caterpillars of several butterflies.

Soure: Indigenous plant use; A booklet on the medicinal, nutritional and technological use of indigenous plants; By Zena Cumpston; Clean Air and Urban Landscapes (CAUL) Hub in Melbourne