Gahnia trifida

Gahnia trifida, the coastal saw-sedge, is a tussock-forming perennial in the family Cyperaceae, endemic to southern Australia.

Gahnia trifida
Growing along the shore in Clarence, Tasmania, Australia.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Cyperaceae
Genus: Gahnia
Species:
G. trifida
Binomial name
Gahnia trifida

A herb, sedge or grass-like, with very rough leaf margins and underside. The species grows in dense tussocks, 1.5 metres and 1 metre across, with leaves over 1 metre long and drooping. It is found on white or grey sand, or clay, that may be saline. The leaf blade is inrolled from the margin on the upper surface. Stems are rigid and erect. Branchlets containing the flowering heads emerge from axils at the main bracts. This branchlet has a spike-like arrangement of numerous, yellow or brown, clusters of flowerheads.[1][2]

The species occurs in wetlands of coastal regions in Southwest Australia, South Australia, Victoria, and Tasmania. It is found at Rottnest, an island off the west coast, where it grows near the inland salt lakes. The habitat is moist, often adjacent to creeks and swamps, and may also be saline.[1][3]

The first description of Gahnia trifida was by Jacques Labillardière in Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen (1805).[4][5]

References
  1. Rippey, Elizabeth; Rowland (Reinette), Barbara (2004) [1995]. Coastal plants: Perth and the south-west region (2nd ed.). Perth: UWA Press. ISBN 1-920694-05-6.
  2. "Gahnia trifida". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  3. "Gahnia trifida Labill". Electronic Flora of South Australia Fact Sheet. State Herbarium of South Australia. Archived from the original on 30 June 2012.
  4. "Gahnia trifidi". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
  5. Labillardiere, J.J.H. de (1805), Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen 1(12): 89, t. 116 Type: "in capite Van-Diemen."


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