Spinifex sericeus

Spinifex sericeus, commonly known as hairy spinifex, rolling spinifex, beach spinifex or coastal spinifex, is a dioecious perennial grass.

Spinifex sericeus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Panicoideae
Genus: Spinifex
Species:
S. sericeus
Binomial name
Spinifex sericeus
Synonyms
  • Spinifex hirsutus auct. non Labill.

It is native to Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, and Tonga.

It is an important pioneer species which colonises coastal dunes, binding loose sand with its horizontal runners.[1][2]

The 1889 book 'The Useful Native Plants of Australia’ records that common names included "Spring Rolling Grass" and that it "has no claim whatever as a food plant for stock, and can only be recommended as a sand-binder in fixing drift sands when encroaching on valuable land. For this purposeit deserves more attention than has hitherto been bestowed upon it. It is a plant of comparatively rapid growth, and would give effectual aid in checking the inroads of wind-driven sand, conditionally that the plants be carefully conserved from fire."[3]

Description

Spinifex sericeus has branched stolons and rhizomes extending up to 1–2 metres (3.3–6.6 ft). The leaves have a ligule of a rim of dense hairs; the blades are flat and densely silky.[1]

The male inflorescence is an orange-brown terminal cluster of spiky racemes subtended by silky bracts. The female inflorescence detaches at maturity, a globose seed head of sessile racemes up to 20 cm in diameter which becomes a tumbleweed.[1]

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References
  1. Jacobs, S.W.L.; & Hastings, S.M. "Spinifex sericeus R.Br". PlantNET. National Herbarium of NSW, Sydney. Retrieved 2012-05-29.
  2. Longmore, Sue; Smithyman, Steve & Crawley, Matt (2010). Coastal Plants of the Bellarine Peninsula. Bellarine Catchment Network.
  3. J. H. Maiden (1889). The useful native plants of Australia : Including Tasmania. Turner and Henderson, Sydney.


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