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Fringe-lily
Common Fringe-lily - Thysanotus
tuberosus
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Ff
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It's not hard to guess where the fringe-lily gets its name. These beautiful spring flowers are about 3 cm wide and they sit on top of very slender stems with a few, very narrow leaves.
After the fringe-lily has finished flowering, it will form small capsules holding tiny hard, black seeds which will in turn fall to the ground to germinate. The whole plant will then wither and vanish. Only the fleshy, underground part (or tuber) will remain and from it the stems, leaves and flowers for the next spring will grow.
The tubers are important food for
small ground animals, such as bandicoots and soil
invertebrates. Sometimes a bandicoot will get a double meal
if it digs up a tuber with a beetle larva inside.
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