Erect shrub or tree, to c. 8 m high, usually with several to many branches within crown. Leaves linear, 30–100 cm long and 1–5 cm wide, many-nerved, the midrib slightly broader than the rest; petiole indistinct, only slightly narrower than remainder of leaf. Panicle widely branched, to 150 cm long and 80 cm wide, each branch subtended by a leaf-like bract; bracts subtending flowers c. 5–8 mm long; flowers subsessile, sweetly scented; perianth segments oblong, white, about as long as bracts, finally reflexed; stamens shortly exceeding perianth segments; style subequal to stamens; stigma shortly trifid. Berry globose, c. 4 mm diam.; seeds c. 2.5 mm long, ± comma-shaped. Flowers Oct.–Dec.
GleP, VVP, GipP, OtP, WaP, Gold, CVU, EGL, HSF, OtR, Strz. Also naturalised SA, nSW. Native to New Zealand. Commonly cultivated. Naturalised in Syzygium smithii rainforest near Mallacoota.
Source:
Conran, J.G.; Walsh, N.G. (1994). Agavaceae. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 2, Ferns and Allied Plants, Conifers and Monocotyledons, pp. 718–720. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
