Dianella caerulea Sims, Xanthorrhoeaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Evaluate, score: 5 (Go to the risk assessment)

Common name(s): [more details]

English: blue flax-lily, cerulean flaxlily

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Plant tufted and solitary or gregarious, or mat-forming.  Roots fibrous.  Stems to 2 m long, touching or up to .05 m apart.  Leaves 10-75 cm long; sheath conduplicate, moderately to ± completely occluded distally; lamina 0.3-2.5 cm wide, flat, recurving to revolute in T.S. when dry, cucullate, obtuse.  Inflorescence exceeding foliage; cymules open to contracted, 3-25-flowered; pedicels usually less than 1 cm long, sharply ridged to winged.  Perianth segments ovate to narrowly elliptic.  Sepals 7-11.5 mm long, 5-7-nerved.  Petals 6.3-10.5 mm long, 3-5-nerved.  Filament swelling 1-3 mm long, yellow; anthers 2.8-4.7 mm long, pale yellow-brown.  Ovules 6-12 per locule.  Berry 7-12 mm long.  Seed 2.9-3.7 mm long; testa smooth but microscopically areolate-alveolate, to colliculate, black, shiny." Numerous varieties (George, 1987; pp. 209-214).

Habitat/ecology:  In Australia, "ocurs in a variety of habitats from heaths to open eucalypt forest" (George, 1987; pp. 209-214).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "Common in eastern Australia from Torres Strait islands to Tasmania. In mainland Australia rarely occurs west of the Great Dividing Range. Also in New Guinea" (George, 1987; pp. 209-214).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Lau, Alex/Frohlich, Danielle (2012) (p. 18) Voucher cited: J. Geachy U.S. Army 152 (BISH)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands		Merrill, Elmer D. (1925) (pp. 202-203) In forests at medium and higher altitudes, ascending to 2,200 m.

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 33) Cultivated only

Additional information:
Additional online information about Dianella caerulea is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Dianella caerulea as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Dianella caerulea may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. 2009. A checklist of the total vascular plant flora of Singapore: native, naturalised and cultivated species. Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore. 273 pp.

George, A. S., ed. 1987. Flora of Australia. Vol. 45, Hydatellaceae to Liliaceae. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra. .

Lau, Alex/Frohlich, Danielle. 2012. New plant records from O‘ahu for 2009. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2011. Part II: Plants. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 113:7-26.

Merrill, Elmer D. 1925. An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants, vol. 1 [reprint]. Bureau of Printing, Manila. 463 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2011. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.