Dianella ensifolia (L.) Redouté

Code
 
DNLEN
 
Growth form
 
Geophytic
 
Biological cycle
 
Vivacious
 
Habitat
 
Terrestrial
 

Global description
 
Dianella ensifolia is a vivacious, glabrous herb, with woody rhizomes, erect stems, 60 cm to more than 1.5 m high, forming dense clumps with numerous releases. The leaves are more or less densely grouped, are interlocked and disposed in a plane, with flattened sheaths and lamina of varying length and width, midrib roughly more or less keeled on the underside. The inflorescence equaling or exceeding the leaves, is a loose panicle. The flowers are small, white to bluish, with regular perianth, having segments reflected from 6 to 8 mm long. The fruit is an ovoid berry, reaching up to 8 mm in diameter, bright blue in colour. The seeds are dark and hard.
 
General habit
 
Dianella ensifolia is a vivacious herb in dense clumps, with woody rhizomes and erect stems, reaching 60 cm to more than 1.5 m high.
           
Underground system
 
It consists of woody rhizomes and robust fibrous roots.
 
Stem
 
The stem is cylindrical, more or less flattened, robust, smooth, marked by a succession of nodes up to 60 cm to more than 1.5 meters high.
           
Leaf
 
The stiff and gladiolus leaves are more or less densely grouped, nested and arranged in a plane, with flattened sheaths, narrowly oblong to linear-lanceolate lamina, of varying length and width, of 25 to 60 cm by 8-10 3 to 30 mm, progressively decreasing in size towards the apex, midrib more or less keeled on the underside.
 
Inflorescence
 
The flowers are in loose panicles, terminal, reaching up to 30 cm long, with more or less loose branches underpinned by linear and scarious bracts, decreasing in size upwardly.
 
Flower
 
The flowers are small, white to blue, with slender, often curved pedicels, 5 to 15 mm, regular perianth; the petals are turned backwards, purple or dark blue, contrasting with the yellow stamens; 6 equal stamens and sessile ovary with 3  4-6 ovulated loculus, with single cylindrical style.
 
Fruit
 
The fruit is an ovoid or globular-ellipsoid berry, 7 to 12 mm long and 5 to 8 mm, 3-sided more or less clear, bright blue.
 
Seed
 
The seeds are black and shiny, hard, sub-kidney-shaped, 3.5 mm long and 2.2 mm wide.

China: Dianella ensifolia flowers and fruits from March to August.
Madagascar: Dianella ensifolia flowers during the wet season.

 

Dianella ensifolia is a vivacious species that reproduces by seeds and rhizomes. The seeds are dispersed by water and man.

China: Dianella ensifolia grows in forests and on grassy slopes; from sea level to 1700 m.
Madagascar: Dianella ensifolia grows on ferralitic soils, more or less humiferous, and the coastal sands with variable fertility, in sunny or more or less shady places. D. ensifolia tends to occupy the space left after slash and burn of cultivation over the entire eastern side of Madagascar, up to 1500 m altitude (savoka, fallow, sloppy perennial crops, crop edges ). It occurs as a weed in extensive farming systems of rice or fruit crops (pineapple, orange), throughout the humid eastern slopes of Madagascar and the domain Sambirano (wet part in the North).
Thailand: Dianella ensifolia grows in all types of forest and open grassland, from sea level to around 2,000 m altitude.

 

Origin

Dianella ensifolia is native to south-east Asia from China to New Guinea, Sri Lanka, the Indian Ocean islands (Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion, Seychelles) and south-east Africa (Mozambique, Zimbabwe).

Worldwide distribution

South-east Africa, south-west Indian Ocean islands, Sri Lanka, China, south-east Asia, Indonesia, Australia and the Pacific islands.

 

Madagascar: Dianella ensifolia is a weed species very common on the humid regions of Madagascar, it is however rare in annual cultures. The control of this species does not present any particular difficulty except in cases where it is already densely populated. D. ensifolia is a very common weed species in fallow, abandoned plots and slightly maintained perennial crops of the sloppy wet eastern side of Madagascar. It can be harmful in the plantations carried out very extensively.

Mauritius:

Reunion: Its status in Reunion is uncertain, exotic introduced and naturalized or native. This species is sometimes cultivated or found in nature.
 

Ornamental: Dianella ensifolia is an ornamental plant well known in the tropics.

Local control

Madagascar: This species is controlled with small hand tools as angady and machetes in fruit cultivation systems.
 
 

Herbarium pictures ReCOLNAT: https://explore.recolnat.org/search/botanique/simplequery=Dianella%2520ensifolia