''Cymbopogon ambiguus'', or Australian lemon-scented grass, is a plant species in the family

Poaceae Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivate ...

. It has fragrant, bluish-green grey leaves and fluffy seed heads. It is

self-fertile Self-incompatibility (SI) is a general name for several genetic mechanisms that prevent self-fertilization in sexual reproduction, sexually reproducing organisms, and thus encourage outcrossing and allogamy. It is contrasted with separation of sexe ...

Cultivation

''Cymbopogon ambiguus'' needs a sunny position. It can tolerate extreme dryness once established. Propagation is by division of clumps or from seed. Lemongrass can be grown in any soil and needs very little water. It grows to a height of .

Uses

Infusions and concoctions of ''Cymbopogon ambiguus'' have been used in traditional

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia 50,000 to 65,000 year ...

medicine to treat headaches, chest infections, and muscle cramps. It has also been proposed as a candidate for rhizoremediation of hydrocarbon-contaminated soils.

Read also

Cymbopogon ''Cymbopogon'', also known as lemongrass, barbed wire grass, silky heads, oily heads, Cochin grass, Malabar grass, citronella grass or fever grass, is a genus of Asian, African, Australian, and tropical island plants in the Poaceae, grass famil ...

References

ambiguus {{Panicoideae-stub