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Exocarpos homalocladus, the grass tree, is a shrub or small tree from Lord Howe Island that grows to about 4 m and is a partial root parasite. It is a niche plant rarely grown in cultivation, so care depends on providing bright light and well-drained soil in a frost-free climate.
Exocarpos homalocladus, commonly known as the grass tree, is a flowering plant in the sandalwood family. The specific epithet comes from the Greek homalos (“flat”) and clados (“cladode”, a leaf-like stem, specialised for photosynthesis), with reference to the structure of the plant.
The species is endemic to Australia’s subtropical Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea, where it is fairly common and found from sea level to the summits of the mountains.
Leafless Ballart · Exocarpos bidwillii · Cherry Ballart · Hulumoa · Exocarpos humifusus · Broad leaved cherry · Exocarpos longifolius · Leafy ballart · Menzies' ballart · Broom Ballart · Pale Fruit Ballart · Coast Ballart
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Exocarpos homalocladus 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.
