Dianella is a genus of about forty species of flowering plants in the monocot family Asphodelaceae, commonly known as flax lilies.[2] Plants in this genus are tufted herbs with more or less linear leaves and bisexual flowers with three sepals more or less similar to three petals and a superior ovary, the fruit a berry. They occur in Africa, South-east Asia, the Pacific Islands, New Zealand and Australia.
Several species of this genus, or the whole genus, are sometimes referred to by the common name blue flax lily, particularly in Australia.[3][4]
Description
Plants in the genus Dianella are tufted perennial, rhizomatous herbs with fibrous or fleshy roots, more or less linear leaves with their bases overlapping, bisexual flowers with three sepals more or less similar to three blue, purple or white petals and a superior ovary, and the fruit a berry.[5][6][7][8]
Plants in the genus Dianella occur in Africa, South-east Asia, the Pacific Islands including Hawaii, New Zealand and Australia. About half of the species are native to Australia.[15]
Dianella ensifolia (L.) DC. (syn. D. ensata) Chimanimani Mountains of southern Africa; Indian Subcontinent, China, Madagascar, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Japan, islands in Indian Ocean
Several species of Dianella are grown for their attractive foliage and shiny, blue to purple berries.[16]
Reports of the edibility of the fruit range from very poisonous[17][18] to sweet and nutty (such as D. caerulea),[19] and the beach flax lily (D. congesta) is reportedly the best-tasting.[20]
The leaves are used to weave dillies and baskets by Indigenous Australians.[20]
^Henderson, Rodney J.F. "Dianella Lam". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
^Conran, John G. "Dianella". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
^Wilson, Karen L. "Genus Dianella". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
^Collis, Robyn. "Dianella revoluta". Australian National Botanic Gardens. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
^Dion S. Devey, Ilia Leitch, Paula J. Rudall, J. Chris Pires, Yohan Pillon, and Mark W. Chase. "Systematics of Xanthorrhoeaceae sensu lato, with an emphasis on Bulbine". Aliso22(Monocots: Comparative Biology and Evolution):345-351. ISSN 0065-6275.
^Starting out with Natives, John Wriggley & Murray Fagg
^Anthony Huxley, Mark Griffiths, and Margot Levy (1992). The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. The Macmillan Press, Limited: London. The Stockton Press: New York. ISBN978-0-333-47494-5 (set).
