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Ophiopogon japonicus
Also called Mondo Grass, Ophiopogon, Snake's Beard, Dwarf Lily Turf, Lily Turf Grass
Dwarf lilyturf is an evergreen, grass-like perennial that spreads by underground stolons, making a dense groundcover. It grows well in full sun or partial shade and is hardy outdoors in many climates.
Ophiopogon japonicus (dwarf lilyturf, mondograss, fountainplant, monkeygrass; Japanese: リュウノヒゲ ryū-no-hige ("dragon's beard") or ジャノヒゲ ja-no-hige ("snake's beard") is a species of Ophiopogon native to China, India, Japan, Nepal, and Vietnam.
It is grown as an ornamental plant, providing excellent groundcover. Several cultivars have been selected, including 'Albus' (white flowers), 'Compactus' and 'Kyoto Dwarf' (dwarf forms, not over 4–5 cm tall), and 'Silver Mist' (variegated, with white-striped leaves). It is often sold as a decorative plant for freshwater aquaria, but because it is not a true aquatic plant, it can only live for a few months underwater before it dies. While hardy to temperatures of about −20 °C (−4 °F) when dormant in winter outdoors in normal soil, when kept fully submerged, it requires water temperatures of 18–25 °C (64–77 °F). It grows well in full sun or partial shade. Propagation is from side shoots.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Ophiopogon japonicus 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.
