Conostylis prolifera, known as mat cottonheads, is a small, grass-like, stoloniferous perennial from south-western Western Australia, grown mainly by enthusiasts of native plants. It needs well-drained, sandy soil and a sunny spot, with winter-wet conditions suiting its native habitat.
Family
Haemodoraceae (Haemodor family)
Grows as
Grass, Perennial
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Water moderately while establishing, then mostly rely on winter rain; avoid waterlogging in summer.
Soil
Sandy or loamy, free-draining soil; a native-plant or sandy potting mix.
Temperature
Mild to warm, roughly 5–30 °C; tolerates light frost.
How easy
Moderate
Native range
W. & SW. Australia
Climate
subtropical
About
Conostylis prolifera, commonly known as mat cottonheads, is a rhizomatous, tufted, stoloniferous, perennial, grass-like plant or herb in the family Haemodoraceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has flat, glabrous leaves, and yellow and cream-coloured, tubular flowers.
Where it grows
This conostylis grows in loam and sand in winter-wet flats between the lower Murchison River, Beverley, Tammin and Wickepin in the Avon Wheatbelt, Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest, Swan Coastal Plain and Yalgoo bioregions of south-western Western Australia.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Conostylis prolifera by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.