Common Spike-sedge

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Common Spike-sedge - Colleen Miller

Eleocharis acuta

Leafless plant with erect dark-green hollow stems to 90 cm in height, spreading to more than 2 m and forming dense stands. Flowers are dark brown spikelets 3 cm long and 3-7 mm wide at the tips of the stems.

Details
Flora Type
Sedges, rushes
Other Common Names
Small Spike-sedge
Distinctive Features

Three-sided flowerstems. Emergent narrow-leaf.

Biology

Perennial. Found in or alongside perennial wetlands and slow-moving water including channels.

Native Status
Native
Flowering Time

Sep-Apr

Taxonomy
Phylum
Tracheophyta (Vascular Plants)
Class
Magnoliopsida (Flowering Plants)
Order
Poales
Family
Cyperaceae
Genus
Eleocharis
Species
acuta

Source: Atlas of Living Australia

The black fleshy berry and the fleshy tuberous roots of some Eleocharis species were used as a food source by Aboriginal people, as well as the stems for weaving and basket-making. Used by waterbirds as nesting material and the fruit as a food source.

Interesting Facts
Native Status
Native